When Gods and Demigods Read: Sea of Monsters
by PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase
Summary: Second installment of my When Gods and Demigods read series. I might add and Apollo camper and Tyson if you ll want! Or perhaps a few Roman demigods? Tell me in reviews if you think I should!:D Rated T cause...I'm paranoid! . .
1. My Best Friend Shops For Wedding Dresses

**fisrt chapter of the next book! woo-hooooooooooo:D**

**I hope you all like it...even though its short...**

**no reviewer answers cause no one has reviewed this story yet:( im hurt!**

**LOL hope you all love it! review...check out ym poll and other stories! all my harry potter stories are up for adoption too so if you like those you can adopt them:) also if i have ever like any of your stories then please update them! i'm writing alot because im not reading! update peoplE! and what was that last thing...i can't remember!:( oh right the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer:**

**I, PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase, do not ow PJO or any of the characters (Except all of them;) )**

**RICK RIORDAN IS A SON OF ATHENA! anyone agree?**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

Everyone was gathered in the kitchen to eat breakfast before they began the second book.

"I can't wait!" Annabeth said as they finished breakfast and went into the living room to read.

Once everyone was settled down in their usual seat a light appeared and an orange book appeared on the coffee table.

Athena read the title for everyone.

**The Sea of Monsters**

"Great" Poseidon said "the title has the word monsters in it."

Everyone laughed.

"Who wants to read?" Athena asked.

Nico raised his hand.

"I haven't read yet!" he said and Athena handed him the book to read.

Nico pened up to the first chapter...

**"My best friend shops for a wedding dress,"** Nico read and laughed.

"But Annabeth! You're to young to marry" Connor said.

"It's not me...it's his other best friend" she said pointing at Grover.

"GROVER'S GETTING MARRIED!" the Stolls, Leo, and Apollo said.

Hermes hadn't shown up yet.

**My nightmare started like this.**

"Nice way to start the book" Apollo noted.

**I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.**

**Florida, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been** to** Florida.**

"Son of Poseidon thing" Poseidon said.

**Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.**

**Yeah, I said hooves.**

**Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don't recommend), you'd never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he's got furry hindquarters and hooves.**

"We know this all ready" Travis whined.

"It's probably for the mortals who read this book.

**Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He'd gone on this adventure with me and a girl **

"Just a girl" Clarisse said and Annabeth glared at her.

**named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn't seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest-a quest no satyr had ever returned from.**

"Dun dun duuuuuuuuun" Nico said and everyone laughed.

**Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground.**

**Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from … something.**

"You are very descriptive Percy" Athena said.

**A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.**

"Monster" a few people said.

**Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them!**

**I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He'd run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.**

"I get it!" a lot of people said.

**Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses.**

**The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing-a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food.**

**Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on.**

**Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.**

"No such luck for you two" Apollo said, worrying because his brother hadn't showed up yet, neither had Artemis.

**Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIIINE!"**

**I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.**

**There was no storm. No monster.**

"Thankfully" Poseidon said.

**Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.**

**I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass-a humanlike shape. But then there was a knock on my bedroom door-my mom called: "Percy, you're going to be late"-and the shadow at the window disappeared.**

"Percy's got a stalker!" Connor said.

Annabeth blushed, which did not go unnoticed by Thalia.

"What were you doing outside his window Annie?" Thalia asked and Annabeth blushed even more as everyone looked at her.

Percy chuckled and out his arm around her.

"She needed to tell me something important and she was looking for the right time" Percy said and Annabeth looked at him greatfully.

"Okay...makes sense" Poseidon said helping Annabeth avoid any more embarassment.

"Yeah it does" Athena said and everyone dropped it.

Annabeth sent a silent thank you to the two Olympians.

"You're welcome" a male and female voice said in her mind.

**It must've been my imagination. A fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape … there couldn't have been anyone out there.**

**"Come on, dear," my mother called again. "Last day of school. You should be excited! You've almost made it.'"**

**"Coming," I managed.**

**I felt under my pillow. My fingers closed reassuringly around the ballpoint pen I always slept with. I brought it out, studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos. Riptide.**

**I thought about uncapping it, but something held me back. I hadn't used Riptide for so long….**

**Besides, my mom had made me promise not to use deadly weapons in the apartment after I'd swung a javelin the wrong way and taken out her china cabinet.**

"Kelp Head" Thalia said at the same time Annabeth said "Seaweed Brain."

The two girls lookex at each other and smiled.

**I put Anaklusmos on my nightstand and dragged myself out of bed.**

**I got dressed as quickly as I could. I tried not to think about my nightmare or monsters or the shadow at my window.**

**Have to get away. Have to warn them!**

**What had Grover meant?**

**I made a three-fingered claw over my heart and pushed outward-an ancient gesture Grover had once taught me for warding off evil.**

**The dream couldn't have been real.**

"Thanks for caring about me" Grover said sarcastically.

"Sorry G-Man" Percy said.

**Last day of school. My mom was right, I should have been excited. For the first time in my life, I'd almost made it an entire year without getting expelled. No weird accidents. No fights in the classroom. No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill me with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework. Tomorrow, I'd be on my way to my favorite place in the world-Camp Half-Blood.**

"Where Annabeth is" Thalia coughed.

Percabeth blushed.

**Only one more day to go. Surely even I couldn't mess that up.**

"You jinxed it!" Nico said.

**As usual, I didn't have a clue how wrong I was.**

"See" Nico said.

**My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast. She's funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.**

"Blue food" Leo said and just then Hermes and Artemis came in arguing.

"It's not my fault sha can't keep her mouth shut!" Artemis said.

"So you did tell her!" Hermes shouted back.

"Yes...No...AGH!" Artemis said.

"I knew I wasn't the one who let it slip!" Hermes said "you had me believing it was me who said something."

"I was talking to myself when she heard it!" Artemis said.

"STOP!" Apollo said and the duo stopped.

"What are you two arguing about? You sound like Athena and Poseidon or Zeus and Hera!" the Sun God asked.

"Nothing" Hermes and Artemis said at the same time.

They sat down, on the opposite sides of the room, and didn't talk.

After a long silence Leo said.

"I want blue waffles."

Everyone laughed except for Artemis and Hermes.

**I ate at the kitchen table while my mom washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform-a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.**

**The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn't digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. "Percy, are you all right?"**

**"Yeah … fine."**

**But she could always tell when something was bothering me. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. "School, or …"**

**She didn't need to finish. I knew what she was asking.**

**"I think Grover's in trouble," I said, and I told her about my dream.**

"I'm still confused about what he meant in the dream" Athena said.

**She pursed her lips. We didn't talk much about the other part of my life. We tried to live as normally as possible, but my mom knew all about Grover.**

**"I wouldn't be too worried, dear," she said. "Grover is a big satyr now. If there were a problem, I'm sure we would've heard from … from camp… ." Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.**

"What's wrong with Camp?" Demeter said.

"You'll see" Percy said and the gods groaned.

"Hate those words" Hermes mumbled.

**"What is it?" I asked.**

**"Nothing," she said. "I'll tell you what. This afternoon we'll celebrate the end of school. I'll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center-to that skateboard shop you like."**

**Oh, man, that was tempting. We were always struggling with money. Between my mom's night classes and my private school tuition, we could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard. But something in her voice bothered me.**

**"Wait a minute," I said. "I thought we were packing me up for camp tonight."**

**She twisted her dishrag. "Ah, dear, about that … I got a message from Chiron last night."**

"That's never good" Clarisse said.

**My heart sank. Chiron was the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He wouldn't contact us unless something serious was going on. "What did he say?"**

**"He thinks … it might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet. We might have to postpone."**

**"Postpone? Mom, how could it not be safe? I'm a half-blood! It's like the only safe place on earth for me!"**

"Technically it's one of them...there's another" Jason said.

"For Greek half-bloods" Percy said and Jason nodded.

**"Usually, dear. But with the problems they're having-"**

**"What problems?"**

Thalia looked down and Annabeth gave her a hug.

**"Percy … I'm very, very sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can't explain it all now. I'm not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly."**

**My mind was reeling. How could I not go to camp? I wanted to ask a million questions, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.**

**My mom looked almost relieved. "Seven-thirty, dear. You should go. Tyson will be waiting."**

Percy smiled.

He hadn't seen his brother since he was made the General of the cyclopes army **(A/N: im thinking of bringing him in...what'd you think?)**

**"But-"**

**"Percy, we'll talk this afternoon. Go on to school."**

**That was the last thing I wanted to do, but my mom had this fragile look in her eyes-a kind of warning, like if I pushed her too hard she'd start to cry. **

"Women's worst weapon...tears" Ares said ad the girls all smirked as the boys nodded.

**Besides, she was right about my friend Tyson. I had to meet him at the subway station on time or he'd get upset. He was scared of traveling underground alone.**

**I gathered up my stuff, but I stopped in the doorway. "Mom, this problem at camp. Does it… could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?"**

**She wouldn't meet my eyes. "We'll talk this afternoon, dear. I'll explain … as much as I can."**

"As much as she can" Annabeth said "too ad you didn't go home."

Poseidon looked worried at this.

**Reluctantly, I told her good-bye. I jogged downstairs to catch the Number Two train.**

**I didn't know it at the time, but my mom and I would never get to have our afternoon talk.**

**In fact, I wouldn't be seeing home for a long, long time.**

**As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight-a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.**

"IT belonged to Nobody" Percy smirked and Annabeth, Grover and Clarisse laughed.

Everyone looked confused.

**Then it rippled and vanished.**

"That's it" Nico said "short chapter."

"Can I read?" Artemis asked and Nico handed her the book.

She still looked mad.

* * *

**that was a short short short short short short chapter!...new challenge!**

**in earlier chapters of my first story i said that one direction and the president were the children of what 2 Gods? Why would I say this?**

** -or-**

** What couple am i playing at in this chapter?**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	2. I Play Dodgeball With Cannonballs

**this chapter is dedicated to someone special...**

**happy late birthday quinnybomb! this chapter's yours!**

**i posted poll results today so check them out!**

**look at my other stories too!**

**reviewer answers!**

**MaxandThalia:**what happened between them will it be in the books because i really whant to know  
**~i might tell in the books...i may not...lol ill add it in there somewhere...next break maybe**

**Ratatosk The Divine Demon**Excellent start here. Can't wait to read more. Your First story has set a high standard for this story to meet or beat.  
**~im glad you liked my story! i'll try to out do that one by adding more fluff and better comments to this one**

**disclaimer: i do not own PJO or any characters.**

**type the word (exactly like this), #*!DEMIGOD!*# of you would agree that Rick Riordan is a demigod child of Athena or Apollo**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"I play dodgeball with cannibals,"** Artemis read.

"Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat" Poseidon said and sighed.

**My day started normal. Or as normal as it ever gets at Meriwether College Prep.**

**See, it's this "progressive" school in downtown Manhattan, which means we sit on beanbag chairs instead of at desks, and we don't get grades, and the teachers wear jeans and rock concert T-shirts to work.**

"Cool!" Leo said.

"I'm going to that school!" Connor and Travis said.

**That's all cool with me. I mean, I'm ADHD and dyslexic, like most half-bloods, so I'd never done that great in regular schools even before they kicked me out. The only bad thing about Meriwether was that the teachers always looked on the bright side of things, and the kids weren't always … well, bright.**

"Not in a school like that they won't be" Athena said.

"Why did you let him go to that school Sally?" Annabeth asked.

Sally shrugged.

"I didn't want him to have a too difficult time" Sally said.

"I love my mom!" Percy said.

"Love you too Percy" Sally said.

"Love you mom!" Ares said.

"Mmmmmm hmmmmmmm" Hera said and everyone laughed.

**Take my first class today: English. The whole middle school had read this book called Lord of the Flies, where all these kids get marooned on an island and go psycho. So for our final exam, our teachers sent us into the break yard to spend an hour with no adult supervision to see what would happen. What happened was a massive wedgie contest between the seventh and eighth graders, two pebble fights, and a full-tackle basketball game. The school bully, Matt Sloan, led most of those activities.**

**Sloan wasn't big or strong, but he acted like he was. He had eyes like a pit bull, and shaggy black hair, and he always dressed in expensive but sloppy clothes, like he wanted everybody to see how little he cared about his family's money. One of his front teeth was chipped from the time he'd taken his daddy's Porsche for a joyride and run into a PLEASE SLOW DOWN FOR CHILDREN sign.**

"Idiot" almost everyone said.

**Anyway, Sloan was giving everybody wedgies until he made the mistake of trying it on my friend Tyson.**

Everyone who knew Tyson smiled.

"Big mistake" Grover said.

"Why?" Jason asked.

"Not only is Tyson a cyclopes but he's my little brother and you do not mess with my family and friends or you answer to Riptide" Percy said.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh" Jason and Leo and Piper said.

**Tyson was the only homeless kid at Meriwether College Prep. As near as my mom and I could figure, he'd been abandoned by his parents when he was very young, probably because he was so … different. He was six-foot-three and built like the Abominable Snowman, but he cried a lot and was scared of just about everything, including his own reflection. His face was kind of misshapen and brutal-looking. I couldn't tell you what color his eyes were, because I could never make myself look higher than his crooked teeth. His voice was deep, but he talked funny, like a much younger kid-I guess because he'd never gone to school before coming to Meriwether. He wore tattered jeans, grimy size-twenty sneakers, and a plaid flannel shirt with holes in it. He smelled like a New York City alleyway, because that's where he lived, in a cardboard refrigerator box off 72nd Street.**

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" all the girls said.

"That's to sad" Katie said and Travis put his arm around her.

**Meriwether Prep had adopted him as a community service project so all the students could feel good about themselves. Unfortunately, most of them couldn't stand Tyson. Once they discovered he was a big softie, despite his massive strength and his scary looks, they made themselves feel good by picking on him. I was pretty much his only friend, which meant he was my only friend.**

"Your a good boy" Hestia said.

**My mom had complained to the school a million times that they weren't doing enough to help him. She'd called social services, but nothing ever seemed to happen. The social workers claimed Tyson didn't exist. They swore that they'd visited the alley we described and couldn't find him, though how you miss a giant kid living in a refrigerator box, I don't know.**

"The Mist" Annabeth and Athena said.

"Like mother like daughter" Poseidon and Percy said and everyone laughed.

"Like father like son" Apollo said.

**Anyway, Matt Sloan snuck up behind him and tried to give him a wedgie, and Tyson panicked. He swatted Sloan away a little too hard. Sloan flew fifteen feet and got tangled in the little kids' tire swing.**

"Go Tyson!" the Stoll cheered.

**"You freak!" Sloan yelled. "Why don't you go back to your cardboard box!"**

"Who the Hades says that to someone?" Hera asked.

**Tyson started sobbing. He sat down on the jungle gym so hard he bent the bar, and buried his head in his hands.**

**"Take it back, Sloan!" I shouted.**

"Personal loyalty" Percy said.

"You wouldn't be Percy if you weren't loyal" Annabeth said and snuggled closer to him and he put his arma round her.

**Sloan just sneered at me. "Why do you even bother, Jackson? You might have friends if you weren't always sticking up for that freak."**

**I balled my fists. I hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt. "He's not a freak. He's just…"**

"Different" a few people finished.

**I tried to think of the right thing to say, but Sloan wasn't listening. He and his big ugly friends were too busy laughing. I wondered if it were my imagination, or if Sloan had more goons hanging around him than usual. I was used to seeing him with two or three, but today he had like, half a dozen more, and I was pretty sure I'd never seen them before.**

"Hint one. "Annabeth whispered to Percy.

**"Just wait till PE, Jackson," Sloan called. "You are so dead."**

**When first period ended, our English teacher, Mr. de Milo, came outside to inspect the carnage. He pronounced that we'd understood Lord of the Flies perfectly. We all passed his course, and we should never, never grow up to be violent people. Matt Sloan nodded earnestly, then gave me a chip-toothed grin.**

**I had to promise to buy Tyson an extra peanut butter sandwich at lunch to get him to stop sobbing.**

"He loves peanut butter" Percy said.

**"I … I am a freak?" he asked me.**

**"No," I promised, gritting my teeth. "Matt Sloan is the freak."**

**Tyson sniffled. "You are a good friend. Miss you next year if … if I can't …"**

**His voice trembled. I realized he didn't know if he'd be invited back next year for the community service project. I wondered if the headmaster had even bothered talking to him about it.**

"Probably not" someone said.

**"Don't worry, big guy," I managed. "Everything's going to be fine."**

**Tyson gave me such a grateful look I felt like a big liar. How could I promise a kid like him that anything would be fine?**

"You were right though" Annabeth said.

She had realized that Luke had been quiet recently.

**Our next exam was science. Mrs. Tesla told us that we had to mix chemicals until we succeeded in making something explode, Tyson was my lab partner. His hands were way too big for the tiny vials we were supposed to use. He accidentally knocked a tray of chemicals off the counter and made an orange mushroom cloud in the trash can.**

**After Mrs. Tesla evacuated the lab and called the hazardous waste removal squad, she praised Tyson and me for being natural chemists. We were the first ones who'd ever aced her exam in under thirty seconds.**

Everyone laughed.

"Nice job Kelp Head" Thalia said.

**I was glad the morning went fast, because it kept me from thinking too much about my problems. I couldn't stand the idea that something might be wrong at camp. Even worse, I couldn't shake the memory of my bad dream. I had a terrible feeling that Grover was in danger.**

**In social studies, while we were drawing latitude/longitude maps, I opened my notebook and stared at the photo inside-my friend Annabeth **

The Greek demigods snickered as Aphrodite squeled.

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWW!"

"He keeps a picture of you!" she squeled.

Percy and Annabeth were bright red

**on vacation in Washington, D.C. She was wearing jeans and a denim jacket over her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a bandanna. She was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial with her arms crossed, looking extremely pleased with herself, like she'd personally designed the place. See, Annabeth wants to be an architect when she grows up, so she's always visiting famous monuments and stuff. She's weird that way. She'd e-mailed me the picture after spring break, and every once in a while I'd look at it just to remind myself she was real and Camp Half-Blood hadn't just been my imagination.**

**I wished Annabeth were here. She'd know what to make of my dream. I'd never admit it to her, but she was smarter than me,**

"Of course I am" Annabeth said.

**even if she was annoying sometimes.**

Annabeth glared at her boyfriend.

Percy kissed her head and she softened her gaze.

**I was about to close my notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.**

**"Hey!" I protested.**

**Sloan checked out the picture and his eyes got wide. "No way, Jackson. Who is that? She is not your-"**

**"Give it back!" My ears felt hot.**

Everyone laughed.

**Sloan handed the photo to his ugly buddies, who snickered and started ripping it up to make spit wads. They were new kids who must've been visiting, because they were all wearing those stupid HI! MY NAME IS: tags from the admissions office. They must've had a weird sense of humor, too, because they'd all filled in strange names like: MARROW SUCKER, SKULL EATER, and JOE BOB. No human beings had names like that.**

"Obviously" Athena said.

"I've got a good feeling they aren't humans" Poseidon said.

**"These guys are moving here next year," Sloan bragged, like that was supposed to scare me. "I bet they can pay the tuition, too, unlike your retard friend."**

**"He's not retarded." I had to try really, really hard not to punch Sloan in the face.**

"Do it!" Ares and Clarisse yelled.

**"You're such a loser, Jackson. Good thing I'm gonna put you out of your misery next period."**

**His huge buddies chewed up my photo. I wanted to pulverize them, but I was under strict orders from Chiron never to take my anger out on regular mortals, no matter how obnoxious they were. I had to save my fighting for monsters.**

**Still, part of me thought, if Sloan only knew who I really was …**

**The bell rang.**

**As Tyson and I were leaving class, a girl's voice whispered, "Percy!"**

**I looked around the locker area, but nobody was paying me any attention. Like any girl at Meriwether would ever be caught dead calling my name.**

"Why?" Piper asked.

"He's unpopular" Nico said.

"He's popular at Camp though!" Annabeth said.

"Obviously" Piper and Leo said thinking about the entire camp looking for their Lost Hero**;)**

**Before I had time to consider whether or not I'd been imagining things, a crowd of kids rushed for the gym, carrying Tyson and me along with them. It was time for PE. Our coach had promised us a free-for-all dodgeball game, and Matt Sloan had promised to kill me.**

**The gym uniform at Meriwether is sky blue shorts and tie-dyed T-shirts. Fortunately, we did most of our athletic stuff inside, so we didn't have to jog through Tribeca looking like a bunch of boot-camp hippie children.**

A few people laughed.

**I changed as quickly as I could in the locker room because I didn't want to deal with Sloan. I was about to leave when Tyson called, "Percy?"**

**He hadn't changed yet. He was standing by the weight room door, clutching his gym clothes. "Will you … uh …"**

**"Oh. Yeah." I tried not to sound aggravated about it. "Yeah, sure, man."**

**Tyson ducked inside the weight room. I stood guard outside the door while he changed. I felt kind of awkward doing this, but he asked me to most days. I think it's because he's completely hairy and he's got weird scars on his back that I've never had the courage to ask him about.**

**Anyway, I'd learned the hard way that if people teased Tyson while he was dressing out, he'd get upset and start ripping the doors off lockers.**

"Woah" Leo said.

**When we got into the gym, Coach Nunley was sitting at his little desk reading Sports Illustrated. Nunley was about a million years old, with bifocals and no teeth and a greasy wave of gray hair. He reminded me of the Oracle at Camp Half-Blood-which was a shriveled-up mummy-except Coach Nunley moved a lot less and he never billowed green smoke. Well, at least not that I'd observed.**

**Matt Sloan said, "Coach, can I be captain?"**

**"Eh?" Coach Nunley looked up from his magazine. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Mm-hmm."**

**Sloan grinned and took charge of the picking. He made me the other team's captain, but it didn't matter who I picked, because all the jocks and the popular kids moved over to Sloan's side. So did the big group of visitors.**

**On my side I had Tyson, Corey Bailer the computer geek, Raj Mandali the calculus whiz, and a half dozen other kids who always got harassed by Sloan and his gang. Normally I would've been okay with just Tyson-he was worth half a team all by himself-but the visitors on Sloan's team were almost as tall and strong-looking as Tyson, and there were six of them.**

**Matt Sloan spilled a cage full of balls in the middle of the gym.**

**"Scared," Tyson mumbled. "Smell funny."**

"Monster" Poseidon said and Athena held his hand and he kissed her.

**I looked at him. "What smells funny?" Because I didn't figure he was talking about himself.**

**"Them." Tyson pointed at Sloan's new friends. "Smell funny."**

**The visitors were cracking their knuckles, eyeing us like it was slaughter time. I couldn't help wondering where they were from. Someplace where they fed kids raw meat and beat them with sticks.**

A few people chuckled.

**Sloan blew the coach's whistle and the game began. Sloan's team ran for the center line. On my side, Raj Mandali yelled something in Urdu, probably "I have to go potty!" and ran for the exit. Corey Bailer tried to crawl behind the wall mat and hide. The rest of my team did their best to cower in fear and not look like targets.**

"Wimps" Clarisse and Ares said.

**"Tyson," I said. "Let's g-"**

**A ball slammed into my gut. I sat down hard in the middle of the gym floor. The other team exploded in laughter.**

"Ouch" Leo said.

**My eyesight was fuzzy. I felt like I'd just gotten the Heimlich maneuver from a gorilla. I couldn't believe anybody could throw that hard.**

"I can" Clarisse said.

"Note to self, no dodgeball with Clarisse" Leo said.

**Tyson yelled, "Percy, duck!"**

**I rolled as another dodgeball whistled past my ear at the speed of sound.**

**Whooom!**

**It hit the wall mat, and Corey Bailer yelped.**

**"Hey!" I yelled at Sloan's team. "You could kill somebody!"**

"I think that's the point" Nico said.

**The visitor named Joe Bob grinned at me evilly. Somehow, he looked a lot bigger now … even taller than Tyson. His biceps bulged beneath his T-shirt. "I hope so, Perseus Jackson! I hope so!"**

"No one calls me Perseus" Percy said.

**The way he said my name sent a chill down my back. Nobody called me Perseus except those who knew my true identity. Friends … and enemies.**

**What had Tyson said? They smell funny.**

**Monsters.**

"Finally!" Nico and Thalia said.

Helleluijah" Apollo and Hermes said.

Percy glared at them.

**All around Matt Sloan, the visitors were growing in size. They were no longer kids. They were eight-foot-tall giants with wild eyes, pointy teeth, and hairy arms tattooed with snakes and hula women and Valentine hearts.**

**Matt Sloan dropped his ball. "Whoa! You're not from Detroit! Who …"**

**The other kids on his team started screaming and backing toward the exit, but the giant named Marrow Sucker threw a ball with deadly accuracy. It streaked past Raj Mandali just as he was about to leave and hit the door, slamming it shut like magic. Raj and some of the other kids banged on it desperately but it wouldn't budge.**

**"Let them go!" I yelled at the giants.**

**The one called Joe Bob growled at me. He had a tattoo on his biceps that said: JB luvs Babycakes. "And lose our tasty morsels? No, Son of the Sea God. We Laistrygonians aren't just playing for your death. We want lunch!"**

Annabeth growled.

**He waved his hand and a new batch of dodgeballs appeared on the center line-but these balls weren't made of red rubber. They were bronze, the size of cannon balls, perforated like wiffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes. They must've been searing hot, but the giants picked them up with their bare hands.**

**"Coach!" I yelled.**

**Nunley looked up sleepily, but if he saw anything abnormal about the dodgeball game, he didn't let on. That's the problem with mortals. A magical force called the Mist obscures the true appearance of monsters and gods from their vision, so mortals tend to see only what they can understand. Maybe the coach saw a few eighth graders pounding the younger kids like usual. Maybe the other kids saw Matt Sloan's thugs getting ready to toss Molotov cocktails around. (It wouldn't have been the first time.) At any rate, I was pretty sure nobody else realized we were dealing with genuine man-eating bloodthirsty monsters.**

**"Yeah. Mm-hmm," Coach muttered. "Play nice."**

**And he went back to his magazine.**

"Stupid mortal" Hera said.

**The giant named Skull Eater threw his ball. I dove aside as the fiery bronze comet sailed past my shoulder.**

**"Corey!" I screamed.**

**Tyson pulled him out from behind the exercise mat just as the ball exploded against it, blasting the mat to smoking shreds.**

**"Run!" I told my teammates. "The other exit!"**

**They ran for the locker room, but with another wave of Joe Bob's hand, that door also slammed shut.**

**"No one leaves unless you're out!" Joe Bob roared. "And you're not out until we eat you!"**

**He launched his own fireball. My teammates scattered as it blasted a crater in the gym floor.**

**I reached for Riptide, which I always kept in my pocket, but then I realized I was wearing gym shorts. I had no pockets. Riptide was tucked in my jeans inside my gym locker. And the locker room door was sealed. I was completely defenseless.**

**Another fireball came streaking toward me. Tyson pushed me out of the way, but the explosion still blew me head over heels. I found myself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke, my tie-dyed T-shirt peppered with sizzling holes. Just across the center line, two hungry giants were glaring down at me.**

**"Flesh!" they bellowed. "Hero flesh for lunch!" They both took aim.**

**"Percy needs help!" Tyson yelled, and he jumped in front of me just as they threw their balls.**

"He's so sweet" Hestia said.

**"Tyson!" I screamed, but it was too late.**

**Both balls slammed into him … but no … he'd caught them. Somehow Tyson, who was so clumsy he knocked over lab equipment and broke playground structures on a regular basis, had caught two fiery metal balls speeding toward him at a zillion miles an hour. He sent them hurtling back toward their surprised owners, who screamed, "BAAAAAD!" as the bronze spheres exploded against their chests.**

"Yeah go Tyson!" Travis and Connor cheered.

**The giants disintegrated in twin columns of flame-a sure sign they were monsters, all right. Monsters don't die. They just dissipate into smoke and dust, which saves heroes a lot of trouble cleaning up after a fight.**

**"My brothers!" Joe Bob the Cannibal wailed. He flexed his muscles and his Babycakes tattoo rippled. "You will pay for their destruction!"**

**"Tyson!" I said. "Look out!"**

**Another comet hurtled toward us. Tyson just had time to swat it aside. It flew straight over Coach Nunley's head and landed in the bleachers with a huge KA-BOOM!**

"How can he not notice that?" a few poeple asked.

**Kids were running around screaming, trying to avoid the sizzling craters in the floor. Others were banging on the door, calling for help. Sloan himself stood petrified in the middle of the court, watching in disbelief as balls of death flew around him.**

**Coach Nunley still wasn't seeing anything. He tapped his hearing aid like the explosions were giving him interference, but he kept his eyes on his magazine.**

Everyone shook their heads.

**Surely the whole school could hear the noise. The headmaster, the police, somebody would come help us.**

**"Victory will be ours!" roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. "We will feast on your bones!"**

**I wanted to tell him he was taking the dodgeball game way too seriously, but before I could, he hefted another ball. The other three giants followed his lead.**

"Funny till the last part" Leo said.

**I knew we were dead. Tyson couldn't deflect all those balls at once. His hands had to be seriously burned from blocking the first volley. Without my sword …**

**I had a crazy idea.**

**I ran toward the locker room.**

**"Move!" I told my teammates. "Away from the door."**

**Explosions behind me. Tyson had batted two of the balls back toward their owners and blasted them to ashes.**

**That left two giants still standing.**

**A third ball hurtled straight at me. I forced myself to wait-one Mississippi, two Mississippi-then dove aside as the fiery sphere demolished the locker room door.**

**Now, I figured that the built-up gas in most boys' locker rooms was enough to cause an explosion, so I wasn't surprised when the flaming dodgeball ignited a huge WHOOOOOOOM!**

"Another school you blew up!" Thalia said "what is this 5th, 6th?"

Percy glared at her as everyone else laughed.

**The wall blew apart. Locker doors, socks, athletic supporters, and other various nasty personal belongings rained all over the gym.**

Some scruntched their faces.

**I turned just in time to see Tyson punch Skull Eater in the face. The giant crumpled. But the last giant, Joe Bob, had wisely held on to his own ball, waiting for an opportunity. He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.**

**"No!" I yelled.**

**The ball caught Tyson square in the chest. He slid the length of the court and slammed into the back wall, which cracked and partially crumbled on top of him, making a hole right onto Church Street. I didn't see how Tyson could still be alive, but he only looked dazed. The bronze ball was smoking at his feet. Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.**

"He's strong" Clarisse said.

**"Well!" Joe Bob gloated. "I'm the last one standing! I'll have enough meat to bring Babycakes a doggie bag!"**

**He picked up another ball and aimed it at Tyson.**

**"Stop!" I yelled. "It's me you want!"**

**The giant grinned. "You wish to die first, young hero?"**

**I had to do something. Riptide had to be around here somewhere.**

**Then I spotted my jeans in a smoking heap of clothes right by the giant's feet. If I could only get there…. I knew it was hopeless, but I charged.**

**The giant laughed. "My lunch approaches." He raised his arm to throw. I braced myself to die.**

Everyone inhaled and held the breath.

**Suddenly the giant's body went rigid. His expression changed from gloating to surprise. Right where his belly button should've been, his T-shirt ripped open and he grew something like a horn-no, not a horn-the glowing tip of a blade.**

They let out a sigh of relief.

**The ball dropped out of his hand. The monster stared down at the knife that had just run him through from behind.**

**He muttered, "Ow," and burst into a cloud of green flame, which I figured was going to make Babycakes pretty upset.**

Some people chuckled at that line.

**Standing in the smoke was my friend Annabeth. Her face was grimy and scratched. She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, a bronze knife in her hand, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes, like she'd just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.**

"Nope just monsters" Annabeth said.

Percy kissed her head as she snuggled closer to him.

**Matt Sloan, who'd been standing there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses. He blinked at Annabeth, as if he dimly recognized her from my notebook picture. "That's the girl … That's the girl-"**

**Annabeth punched him in the nose and knocked him flat. "And you," she told him, "lay off my friend."**

"Go Annabeth!" Apollo, Leo, Travis, and Connor cheered.

Hermes was staring at Artemis.

**The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming. I heard sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the glass windows of the exit doors, I could see the headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.**

**"Annabeth …" I stammered. "How did you … how long have you …"**

**"Pretty much all morning." She sheathed her bronze knife. "I've been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone."**

**"The shadow I saw this morning-that was-" My face felt hot. "Oh my gods, you were looking in my bedroom window?"**

Everyone laughed as Percy and Annabeth blushed a bright crimson.

**"There's no time to explain!" she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself. "I just didn't want to-"**

**"There!" a woman screamed. The doors burst open and the adults came pouring in.**

**"Meet me outside," Annabeth told me. "And him." She pointed to Tyson, who was still sitting dazed against the wall. Annabeth gave him a look of distaste that I didn't quite understand. "You'd better bring him."**

**"What?"**

**"No time!" she said. "Hurry!"**

**She put on her Yankees baseball cap, which was a magic gift from her mom, and instantly vanished.**

"Leaving poor Percy clueless and cinfused" thalia said and everyone laughed.

**T****hat left me standing alone in the middle of the burning gymnasium when the headmaster came charging in with half the faculty and a couple of police officers.**

**"Percy Jackson?" Mr. Bonsai said. "What … how …"**

"You got blamed for it didn't you?" Poseidon said.

"Yeah" Percy said.

**Over by the broken wall, Tyson groaned and stood up from the pile of cinder blocks. "Head hurts."**

"Poor Tyson" Hazel said.

**Matt Sloan was coming around, too. He focused on me with a look of terror. "Percy did it, Mr. Bonsai! He set the whole building on fire. Coach Nunley will tell you! He saw it all!"**

**Coach Nunley had been dutifully reading his magazine, but just my luck-he chose that moment to look up when Sloan said his name. "Eh? Yeah. Mm-hmm."**

**The other adults turned toward me. I knew they would never believe me, even if I could tell them the truth.**

**I grabbed Riptide out of my ruined jeans, told Tyson, "Come on!" and jumped through the gaping hole in the side of the building.**

"Running from the scene of the crime" Apollo said.

"I'm reading!" Persephone said and Artemis handed her the book.

* * *

**no challenge cause the next chapter will be the first 5 people who answered my challenge from chapter 1**

**sorry**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	3. We Hail a Taxi of Eternal Torment

**You guys have no idea what i went through to make this chapter!**

**i finished it to my satisfaction and my computer shuts off right before i saved it! i wrote the big fight and my computer x's out of internet explorer! what the HADES hermes! Gods! what did i do this time! im trying to make Luke seem like a good guy...i promise!**

***grumbles* stupid hermes**

**CHAPTER DEDICATION ****(THERES A WHOLE LOT OF YE!)**

**this chapter is dedicated to:  
Those who answered the questions (may or may not have had both right): drpend, kingawesome, percabethlvrknowsall, Jade-Queen Of Fantasy, Percabeth226, dyingoflaughter, allen r, Aqua Trooper3, paradiseisland101, F.A.L.T.U, Reader's Delight, and PJLilSis! Alot of you! im limiting now!**

**reviewer answers time!:D**

**Aliy: **I really like your dialog style for your reading the books stories. Its really something unique. If you're having some trouble with your time management, then you could always cut in paste from someone else's story who is fished (but you probably know that right) and just add your dialog. Anyways best of luck in completing the whole PJ series. Funny how it's never been done before and I've only ever know of one that came close (like literally they only had two more chapters of the last book) I totally know where you stand and whish the best.  
**~ i actually do coppy and paste:) i plan on completeing by the time the house of hades comes out:) if you want to read one thats almost done i recommend Paradiseisland101:) they're working on the last olympian! btw! i want the next chapter lol. thank you:) that means a lot to mean:)**

**only one today! i want to say something to.**

i really love you guys! it makes me so happy to see another wonderful review on my story! i've also had some people PM me telling me how much they love my story. i tear up a little reading some pm's and reviews. i am so lucky to be one of the few authors on here that has so many people dedicated tot hese books. this is probably how rick riordan feels:) i've had one or two people tell me that I should go into partnership with Rick Riordan:) im not good enough...it made me want to cry when i read that! im so happy you all love my story! I want you all to know something...you guys have helped me through a REALLY rough time. my grandpa died, my best friend moved, my mom basically hates me, and my other bestfriend/crush has stopped caring. It became to much to bear...i had thoughts of suicide amoungst other stuff (number 10 on the 10 things about me on my profile you guys have really helped me...i've taken my pain into the writing i do...the scars will heal and they wont come back...thank you all so much! i am SO lucky to have such and amazing group of readers! i will never leave you guys! i couldn't. i say this from the bottom of my heart...thank you.

_"A true friend never gets in your way unless your going down_" -Leo **(HA)** Buscaglia

* * *

**"We hail a taxi of eternal torment,"** Persephone read.

Poseidon paled a little.

**Annabeth was waiting for us in an alley down Church Street. She pulled Tyson and me off the sidewalk just as a fire truck screamed past, heading for Meriwether Prep.**

**"Where'd you find him?" she demanded, pointing at Tyson.**

"That was rude" Pipr said.

"I thought you liked Tyson" Nico said.

"I do" Annabeth said.

"Then why were you so rude?" Katie asked.

"Lets just say I've had bad experiences with Cyclopes" Annabeth said.

Luke, Thalia and Grover shivered a little.

**Now, under different circumstances, I would've been really happy to see her. We'd made our peace last summer, despite the fact that her mom was Athena and didn't get along with my dad. I'd missed Annabeth probably more than I wanted to admit.**

"Awww" Aphrodite and Silena cooed.

"Now they get along just fine" Hermes said, back to himself, gesturing to Athena and Poseidon.

**But I'd just been attacked by cannibal giants, Tyson had saved my life three or four times, and all Annabeth could do was glare at him like he was the problem.**

**"He's my friend," I told her.**

**"Is he homeless?"**

**"What does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don't you ask him?"**

**She looked surprised. "He can talk?"**

"Sorry" Annabeth said looking down ashamed.

Percy was rubbing his thumb in calming circular movements on the top of her hand he was holding.

**"I talk," Tyson admitted. "You are pretty."**

Everyone laughed.

"Both the sons of Poseidon like you!" Travis said.

**"Ah! Gross!" Annabeth stepped away from him.**

"He was right you know" Percy said and kissed Annabeth's forehead.

Annabeth blushed and looked up to kiss him on the lips.

He met her half way there.

**I couldn't believe she was being so rude. I examined Tyson's hands, which I was sure must've been badly scorched by the flaming dodge balls, but they looked fine-grimy and scarred, with dirty fingernails the size of potato chips-but they always looked like that. "Tyson," I said in disbelief. "Your hands aren't even burned."**

"He's a Cyclopes" Athena said.

"I didn't know!" Percy defended himself.

**"Of course not," Annabeth muttered. "I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around."**

**Tyson seemed fascinated by Annabeth's blonde hair. He tried to touch it, but she smacked his hand away.**

"Touchy" Connor said.

**"Annabeth," I said, "what are you talking about? Laistry-what?"**

**"Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."**

**"Laistry-I can't even say that. What would you call them in English?"**

Everyone laughed.

"Nice" a few people commented.

**She thought about it for a moment. "Canadians," she decided. "Now come on, we have to get out of here."**

"Canadians?" Leo asked.

"Yeah" Annabeth said.

**"The police'll be after me."**

**"That's the least of our problems," she said. "Have you been having the dreams?"**

**"The dreams … about Grover?"**

**Her face turned pale. "Grover? No, what about Grover?"**

**I told her my dream. "Why? What were you dreaming about?"**

"What were you dreaming about?" Thalia asked.

"Except Percy" Nico added and everyone snickered.

Annabeth glared at him.

"Trouble at Camp" Annabeth said.

**Her eyes looked stormy, like her mind was racing a million miles an hour.**

**"Camp," she said at last. "Big trouble at camp."**

**"My mom was saying the same thing! But what kind of trouble?"**

"That's what I want to know!" Athena said and a few other gods and goddesses nodded.

**"I don't know exactly. Something's wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia, trying to stop me. Have you had a lot of attacks?"**

**I shook my head. "None all year … until today."**

"Lucky" a few demigods murmered.

**"None? But how …" Her eyes drifted to Tyson. "Oh."**

**"What do you mean, 'oh'?"**

**Tyson raised his hand like he was still in class. "Canadians in the gym called Percy something … Son of the Sea God?"**

**Annabeth and I exchanged looks.**

**I didn't know how I could explain, but I figured Tyson deserved the truth after almost getting killed.**

"I'd yell at you about giving the secret away but seeing as though he is a cyclopes I'll let it by" Zeus said.

**"Big guy," I said, "you ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena-"**

"HA! I'm mentioned!" Zeus said.

"I was mentioned last time!" Apollo said.

"He mentions me cause I'm his father!" Poseidon said proudly.

"He mentioned me cause my daughter was standing there!" Athena said

Percy nodded "And you were the first goddess I thought of."

"HEY!" the other goddesses said.

**"Yes," Tyson said.**

**"Well … those gods are still alive. They kind of follow Western Civilization around, living in the strongest countries, so like now they're in the U.S. And sometimes they have kids with mortals. Kids called half-bloods."**

**"Yes," Tyson said, like he was still waiting for me to get to the point.**

**"Uh, well, Annabeth and I are half-bloods," I said. "We're like … heroes-in-training. And whenever monsters pick up our scent, they attack us. That's what those giants were in the gym. Monsters."**

**"Yes."**

**I stared at him. He didn't seem surprised or confused by what I was telling him, which surprised and confused me. "So … you believe me?"**

"Of course he believes you...he's a mons_" Nico said but stopped because Percy gave him a look "Son of Poseidon."

Percy nodded.

**Tyson nodded. "But you are … Son of the Sea God?"**

**"Yeah," I admitted. "My dad is Poseidon."**

**Tyson frowned. Now he looked confused. "But then …"**

"Tyson knew who is father was" Annabeth said.

**A siren wailed. A police car raced past our alley.**

**"We don't have time for this," Annabeth said. "We'll talk in the taxi."**

**"A taxi all the way to camp?" I said. "You know how much money-"**

**"Trust me."**

**I hesitated. "What about Tyson?"**

**I imagined escorting my giant friend into Camp Half-Blood. If he freaked out on a regular playground with regular bullies, how would he act at a training camp for demigods? On the other hand, the cops would be looking for us.**

**"We can't just leave him," I decided. "He'll be in trouble, too." **

**"Yeah." Annabeth looked grim. "We definitely need to take him. Now come on."**

**I didn't like the way she said that, as if Tyson were a big disease we needed to get to the hospital, but I followed her down the alley. Together the three of us sneaked through the side streets of downtown while a huge column of smoke billowed up behind us from my school gymnasium.**

"You demolished yet another school" Thalia said.

"I only destroyed 2! And I didn't destroy the other one till my freshamn year!" Percy argued.

"Goode?" Rachel asked.

Percy nodded.

"Yeah he also missed our date" Annabeth grumbled.

"I was being chased by empousai!" Percy argued playfully.

"With a girl!" Annabeth said.

"Yeah!" Percy said "Rachel!"

Rachel sunk down in her seat a little being brought into this.

"Who wrote her number on you hand" Annabeth pointed out.

"I didn't ask her too!" Percy said.

"Then after that you spent a lot of time with her" Annabeth said, a little heated.

"To get away from demigods stuff!" Percy said getting a tad worked up now.

"We could've used you to plan and strategize!" Annabeth said.

"I was also on call for the ship mission!" Percy said.

They were basically yelling at each other.

"The one where you-know-who died?" Annabeth asked her voice softened a little.

"Yeah..." Percy said.

"The day it happened you were with Rachel" Annabeth said and instantly blush rose to the cheeks of Rachel and Percy.

Thalia noticed the blush.

"Why the blush Rachel?" she asked.

"Ermmmmmmm" Rachel said.

"Why is she blushing Percy?" Annabeth asked her boyfriend.

"Well...uhh...you see me and you weren't dating so it doesn''t make this wrong" Percy said.

"First of all, we were technically dating! I kissed you under a volcano for Gods sake! And second of all, makes what wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"Well we might've kind of...sort of...in a certain way...kissed" Percy said.

"WHAT?!" Annabeth yelled and jumped up.

"It wasn't my fault!" Percy said and Annabeth stormed out of the room.

There was a shouting match involving the names Luke and Rachel.

Then the terrible words "We're through!" rung out through the air.

Everyone widened their eyes.

"Did Annabeth just break up with Percy?" Thalia asked.

"NO!" Aphrodite wailed "not Percabeth!"

Percy came in first.

He looked at the loveseat he shared with his now ex-girlfriend and sat down next to Nico on the couch.

Annabeth came in and barely glanced at the loveseat before sitting next to Thalia.

The loveseat disappeared.

**"Here." Annabeth stopped us on the corner of Thomas and Trimble. She fished around in her backpack. "I hope I have one left."**

**She looked even worse than I'd realized at first. Her chin was cut. Twigs and grass were tangled in her ponytail, as if she'd slept several nights in the open. The slashes on the hems of her jeans looked suspiciously like claw marks.**

**"What are you looking for?" I asked.**

**All around us, sirens wailed. I figured it wouldn't be long before more cops cruised by, looking for juvenile delinquent gym-bombers. No doubt Matt Sloan had given them a statement by now. He'd probably twisted the story around so that Tyson and I were the bloodthirsty cannibals.**

**"Found one. Thank the gods." Annabeth pulled out a gold coin that I recognized as a drachma, the currency of Mount Olympus. It had Zeus's likeness stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.**

**"Annabeth," I said, "New York taxi drivers won't take that."**

**"Stêthi," she shouted in Ancient Greek. "Ô hárma diabolês!"**

**As usual, the moment she spoke in the language of Olympus, I somehow understood it. She'd said: Stop, Chariot of Damnation!**

"Doesn't sound good" Poseidon said.

"It wasn't" Percy said.

"There was no other way...I needed to get to Camp fast" Annabeth said.

**That didn't exactly make me feel real excited about whatever her plan was.**

**She threw her coin into the street, but instead of clattering on the asphalt, the drachma sank right through and disappeared.**

**For a moment, nothing happened.**

**Then, just where the coin had fallen, the asphalt darkened. It melted into a rectangular pool about the size of a parking space-bubbling red liquid like blood. Then a car erupted from the ooze.**

"Ew gross" a few girls said.

"Cool!" Leo, Apollo, Connor, Travis and Hermes said.

**It was a taxi, all right, but unlike every other taxi in New York, it wasn't yellow. It was smoky gray. I mean it looked like it was woven out of smoke, like you could walk right through it. There were words printed on the door-something like GYAR SSIRES-but my dyslexia made it hard for me to decipher what it said.**

"The gray sisters" Athena translated.

**The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way, like she'd just had a shot of Novocain. "Passage? Passage?"**

**"Three to Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth said. She opened the cab's back door and waved at me to get in, like this was all completely normal.**

**"Ach!" the old woman screeched. "We don't take his kind!"**

**She pointed a bony finger at Tyson.**

**What was it? Pick-on-Big-and-Ugly-Kids Day?**

"Poor Tyson" Hera said.

**"Extra pay," Annabeth promised. "Three more drachma on arrival."**

**"Done!" the woman screamed.**

**Reluctantly I got in the cab. Tyson squeezed in the middle. Annabeth crawled in last.**

**The interior was also smoky gray, but it felt solid enough. The seat was cracked and lumpy-no different than most taxis. There was no Plexiglas screen separating us from the old lady driving … Wait a minute. There wasn't just one old lady. There were three, all crammed in the front seat, each with stringy hair covering her eyes, bony hands, and a charcoal-colored sackcloth dress.**

**The one driving said, "Long Island! Out-of-metro fare bonus! Ha!"**

**She floored the accelerator, and my head slammed against the backrest. A prerecorded voice came on over the speaker: Hi, this is Ganymede, cup-bearer to Zeus, and when I'm out buying wine for the Lord of the Skies, I always buckle up!**

**I looked down and found a large black chain instead of a seat belt. I decided I wasn't that desperate … yet.**

"Yet?" Leo asked.

"You'll see" Percy said, his tone was a tad bitter.

**The cab sped around the corner of West Broadway, and the gray lady sitting in the middle screeched, "Look out! Go left!"**

**"Well, if you'd give me the eye, Tempest, I could see that!" the driver complained.**

**Wait a minute. Give her the eye?**

**I didn't have time to ask questions because the driver swerved to avoid an oncoming delivery truck, ran over the curb with a jaw-rattling thump, and flew into the next block.**

**"Wasp!" the third lady said to the driver. "Give me the girl's coin! I want to bite it."**

**"You bit it last time, Anger!" said the driver, whose name must've been Wasp. "It's my turn!"**

**"Is not!" yelled the one called Anger.**

**The middle one, Tempest, screamed, "Red light!"**

**"Brake!" yelled Anger.**

**Instead, Wasp floored the accelerator and rode up on the curb, screeching around another corner, and knocking over a newspaper box. She left my stomach somewhere back on Broome Street.**

"Time for the seat belts" Hermes said.

**"Excuse me," I said. "But … can you see?"**

**"No!" screamed Wasp from behind the wheel.**

**"No!" screamed Tempest from the middle.**

**"Of course!" screamed Anger by the shotgun window.**

**I looked at Annabeth. "They're blind?"**

**"Not completely," Annabeth said. "They have an eye."**

**"One eye?"**

**"Yeah."**

**"Each?"**

**"No. One eye total."**

**Next to me, Tyson groaned and grabbed the seat. "Not feeling so good."**

**"Oh, man," I said, because I'd seen Tyson get carsick on school field trips and it was not something you wanted to be within fifty feet of. "Hang in there, big guy. Anybody got a garbage bag or something?"**

"A garbage bag?" Connor asked and the Stolls laughed.

**The three gray ladies were too busy squabbling to pay me any attention. I looked over at Annabeth, who was hanging on for dear life, and I gave her a why-did-you-do-this-to-me look.**

**"Hey," she said, "Gray Sisters Taxi is the fastest way to camp."**

**"Then why didn't you take it from Virginia?"**

**"That's outside their service area," she said, like that should be obvious. "They only serve Greater New York and surrounding communities."**

**"We've had famous people in this cab!" Anger exclaimed. "Jason! You remember him?"**

"You're famous Jason!" Leo said.

"The other Jason...the one who got the Golden Fleece" Jason said.

"Ironic" Percy mumbled.

**"Don't remind me!" Wasp wailed. "And we didn't have a cab back then, you old bat. That was three thousand years ago!"**

**"Give me the tooth!" Anger tried to grab at Wasp's mouth, but Wasp swatted her hand away.**

**"Only if Tempest gives me the eye!"**

**"No!" Tempest screeched. "You had it yesterday!"**

**"But I'm driving, you old hag!"**

**"Excuses! Turn! That was your turn!"**

**Wasp swerved hard onto Delancey Street, squishing me between Tyson and the door. She punched the gas and we shot up the Williamsburg Bridge at seventy miles an hour.**

**The three sisters were fighting for real now, slapping each other as Anger tried to grab at Wasp's face and Wasp tried to grab at Tempest's. With their hair flying and their mouths open, screaming at each other, I realized that none of the sisters had any teeth except for Wasp, who had one mossy yellow incisor. Instead of eyes, they just had closed, sunken eyelids, except for Anger, who had one bloodshot green eye that stared at everything hungrily, as if it couldn't get enough of anything it saw.**

**Finally Anger, who had the advantage of sight, managed to yank the tooth out of her sister Wasp's mouth. This made Wasp so mad she swerved toward the edge of the Williamsburg Bridge, yelling, "'Ivit back! 'Ivit back!"**

**Tyson groaned and clutched his stomach.**

**"Uh, if anybody's interested," I said, "we're going to die!"**

Everyone laughed at Percy's comment.

Well everyone except Percy, Annabeth, Sally, Poseidon and Athena.

**"Don't worry," Annabeth told me, sounding pretty worried. "The Gray Sisters know what they're doing. They're really very wise."**

**This coming from the daughter of Athena, but I wasn't exactly reassured. We were skimming along the edge of a bridge a hundred and thirty feet above the East River.**

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Annabeth asked coldly.

"That you're a know-it-all" Percy said and smirked.

"At least I don't have kelp for a brain" Annabeth said.

Persephone began to read again to avoid another shouting match.

**"Yes, wise!" Anger grinned in the rearview mirror, showing off her newly acquired tooth. "We know things!"**

**"Every street in Manhattan!" Wasp bragged, still hitting her sister. "The capital of Nepal!"**

**"The location you seek!" Tempest added.**

**Immediately her sisters pummeled her from either side, screaming, "Be quiet! Be quiet! He didn't even ask yet!"**

**"What?" I said. "What location? I'm not seeking any-"**

**"Nothing!" Tempest said.** **"You're right, boy. It's nothing!"**

**"Tell me."**

**"No!" they all screamed.**

**"The last time we told, it was horrible!" Tempest said.**

**"Eye tossed in a lake!" Anger agreed.**

**"Years to find it again!" Wasp moaned. "And speaking of that-give it back!"**

"How did they get it back?" a forever curious Leo asked.

"Who knows" Zeus said.

**"No!" yelled Anger.**

**"Eye!" Wasp yelled. "Gimme!"**

**She whacked her sister Anger on the back. There was a sickening pop and something flew out of Anger's face. Anger fumbled for it, trying to catch it, but she only managed to bat it with the back of her hand. The slimy green orb sailed over her shoulder, into the backseat, and straight into my lap.**

"Ewwwwwww" was heard by every girl, except Annabeth and Thalia.

**I jumped so hard, my head hit the ceiling and the eyeball rolled away.**

**"I can't see!" all three sisters yelled.**

**"Give me the eye!" Wasp wailed.**

**"Give her the eye!" Annabeth screamed.**

**"I don't have it!" I said.**

**"There, by your foot," Annabeth said. "Don't step on it! Get it!"**

**"I'm not picking that up!"**

**The taxi slammed against the guardrail and skidded along with a horrible grinding noise. The whole car shuddered, billowing gray smoke as if it were about to dissolve from the strain.**

**"Going to be sick!" Tyson warned.**

**"Annabeth," I yelled, "let Tyson use your backpack!"**

**"Are you crazy? Get the eye!"**

**Wasp yanked the wheel, and the taxi swerved away from the rail. We hurtled down the bridge toward Brooklyn, going faster than any human taxi. The Gray Sisters screeched and pummeled each other and cried out for their eye.**

**At last I steeled my nerves. I ripped off a chunk of my tie-dyed T-shirt, which was already falling apart from all the burn marks, and used it to pick the eyeball off the floor.**

"That was gross" Hera said.

"You don't know the half of it" Percy said.

**"Nice boy!" Anger cried, as if she somehow knew I had her missing peeper. "Give it back!"**

**"Not until you explain," I told her. "What were you talking about, the location I seek?"**

**"No time!" Tempest cried. "Accelerating!"**

**I looked out the window. Sure enough, trees and cars and whole neighborhoods were now zipping by in a gray blur. We were already out of Brooklyn, heading through the middle of Long Island.**

**"Percy," Annabeth warned, "they can't find our destination without the eye. We'll just keep accelerating until we break into a million pieces."**

**"First they have to tell me," I said. "Or I'll open the window and throw the eye into oncoming traffic."**

**"No!" the Gray Sisters wailed. "Too dangerous!"**

**"I'm rolling down the window."**

**"Wait!" the Gray Sisters screamed. "30, 31, 75, 12!"**

"Those could be map coordinates because they're talking about a location" Poseidon said.

"What's at that Location?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know" Poseidon said...thinking about those coordinates.

**They belted it out like a quarterback calling a play.**

**"What do you mean?" I said. "That makes no sense!"**

**"30, 31, 75, 12!" Anger wailed. "That's all we can tell you. Now give us the eye! Almost to camp!"**

**We were off the highway now, zipping through the countryside of northern Long Island. I could see Half-Blood Hill ahead of us, with its giant pine tree at the crest-Thalia's tree, which contained the life force or a fallen hero.**

**"Percy!" Annabeth said more urgently. "Give them the eye now!"**

**I decided not to argue. I threw the eye into Wasp's lap.**

"So you listened to Annabeth" Thalia said.

"Never again" Percy promised.

**The old lady snatched it up, pushed it into her eye socket like somebody putting in a contact lens, and blinked. "Whoa!"**

**She slammed on the brakes. The taxi spun four or five times in a cloud of smoke and squealed to a halt in the middle of the farm road at the base of Half-Blood Hill.**

**Tyson let loose a huge belch. "Better now."**

**"All right," I told the Gray Sisters. "Now tell me what those numbers mean."**

**"No time!" Annabeth opened her door. "We have to get out now."**

**I was about to ask why, when I looked up at Half-Blood Hill and understood.**

**At the crest of the hill was a group of campers. And they were under attack.**

The Olympians paled.

"Lets take a break" Hera said and everyone agreed and left.

* * *

**sorry about the percabeth fight! i needed more drama! they'll get back together...maybe...mwahahahahahahahah ? *chokes* well than...please review! **

**ATTENTION! loyal readers wanted! want to be a loyal reader? good! it's easy! all you have to do is review my story and read my other ones! PJO of course my hp ones suck!**

**next challenge is... in the Titan's Curse at Hoover Dam Percy runs into Rachel and almost runs her thorugh with a sword as she blows her nose. Percy asks her name and she tells him "Rachel Elizabeth Dare". she asks Percy his name...what did percy say his name was? Percy...**

**fisrt 2 people to get it right get the next chapter!**

**love you all! shows over! good night!**

**PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	4. Broken Up Forever

**its a short chapter i know but i have a feeling you'll all love it!:)**

**This is dedicated to the 8 people who answered the question right**

**The answer was Percy Gotta Go!**

**Those 8 people are:** **cklevine01, BoxAuthor88, ScarletHunter, TheWickedMidNight, paradiseisland101, Profoundtiger098, hathor23, and terrified-littlehero also the few guests that answered correctly!:D**

**i hope you like it!:D**

**no reviewer answers today...sorry**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

Everyone sat down at the kitchen table.

Aphrodite was sniffling and Hephaestus as attempting to comfort her.

Nico and Thalia were shocked, they never thought that Annabeth would break up with Percy.

Piper couldn't believe it either, she saw how much Annabeth cared about Percy.

Percy wasn't eating, he was just staring blankly at the table, on the verge of losing it.

Athena looked around the table for her daughter.

Annabeth wasn't there.

"I'll be back Poseidon" she said and left to find Annabeth.

She found Annabeth by the pond, she was crying.

"Annabeth?" Athena asked.

Annabeth immediately stood up and began wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Sorry mom" she said.

"What's wrong?"

"I regret breaking up with him" Annabeth said "We technically weren't dating but when he told me about the kiss I guess I got jealous."

Annabeth sunk back to the ground and began crying again.

Athena sat down on her knees in front of her favorite daughter.

"It's okay to be a little jealous...it means you care" Athena said "why don't you go apologize to him?"

"I guess it's my pride" Annabeth said.

Athena hugged Annabeth something she never does.

"I know it's hard to admit you were wrong...I take blame for that but if you want him back then..." Athena started but an idea struck her.

"I'll be back dear" Athena said.

Annabeth nodded and Athena left back to the kitchen.

She approached Percy.

"Perseus?" Athena asked and Percy looked at her, his eyes showed a broken heart.

"Yes Lady Athena?" the Son of Poseidon said.

"Come with me" Athena said and Percy followed her out to the pond.

Annabeth had broken down in tears again and Percy couldn't help seeing the girl of his dreams in tears.

He immediatle swooped down and hugged her.

Annabeth smelled the scent of a warm ocean breeze.

"Don't cry Wise Girl" he said "what's wrong?"

"Oh Percy" Annabeth said and threw her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry! I was wrong! We weren't dating and I was just jealous!" she cried into his shirt.

"I'm sorry Princess" Percy said "I didn't mean to spend so much time with her before the war...I was just stressed."

He held her tight and she slowly stopped crying.

Once she was comepletely done crying Percy took her chin and lifted it up so he could look into her beautiful grey eyes.

"I really love you Annabeth...I would go to Tarturas for you. I love you more than there is fish in the sea. Your my whole world Daughter of Athena. From the day I met you I loved you. You're my one and only Wise Girl and the only girl who will ever have my heart" he kissed her.

Annabeth put her arms around his neck and Percy pulled her closer to him. Both of their lips tasted like salt, Annabeth's from tears and Percy's because they always tasted like salt being Son of the Sea God.

By the time they were done Annabeth was basically on his lap and they were both smiling.

"I love you too Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said and hugged him again.

Athena stood by and watched.

She was happy that her Daughter had found someone that really loved her.

Athena left tot he kitchen before the newly renewed couple did.

"Where'd you go love?" Poseidon asked.

"You'll see" Athena smiled.

Percy and Annabeth came in holding hands.

Annabeth was leaning into Percy and they were both smiling and laughing.

"YES!" Aphrodite cheered and everyone looked up.

"THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER!"

Thalia and Nico smiled...thank Gods!"

Annabeth blushed and Percy laughed and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You did this didn't you?" Poseidon asked as Percy and Annabeth sat dwon next to each other.

"Maybe" Athena said and Poseidon laughed and kissed her.

"Thanks" he said.

Athena smiled as Annabeth leaned into Percy and he put his arm around her.

All the people that knew the coupl and how much they really loved each other smiled.

Aphrodite's smiled couldn't have gotten any bigger.

* * *

**sorry about how short it was...how was the get back together? i only broke them up to set up for a HUGE romance scene:) i hoped you liked it:)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	5. Tyson Plays With Fire

**i decided to add a few more people:) two people everyone has been asking for, percy and annabeth from when they were *MoA spoiler alert!* falling into tarturas, tyson and apollo's sons.**

**i hope you like it! no long thing cause i gotta get ready for school:( peace!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

"Who would like to..." Athena was cut short by a bright light.

6 people stood in place of the light; 4 boys, 1 girl and a cyclopes.

"Who now?" Ares asked.

"Present yourselves!" Zeus demanded.

A boy who looked a lot like Percy with black hair and sea green eyes started. He looked like he just fought in a tough battle.

"Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon, counselor for cabin 3 at Camp Half-Blood, hero of Olympus, and one of the 7" the boy said and Percy's eyes widened as everyone looked from him to the newly arrived Percy.

"You're me?" Percy asked.

"You're me?" Percy J. **(A/N: the new repeat characters will have their last initial attacthed to them)**

Everyone was confused.

A blonde girl limped forward.

Her ankle was wrapped in a bubble wrap cast and she had spider webs in her hair.

"I am Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, counselor of cabin 6 at Camp Half Blood, hero of Olympus, one of the 7, and chosen Daughter of Athena" girl said.

Annabeth's eyes widened.

Annabeth C. swayed a little and almost fell over but Percy caughter her.

"Woah Wise Girl...don't wanna hurt that ankle more" he said.

"How did we get here? I just remeber falling" Annabeth C. shuddered.

Percy J. held her.

"I don't know...I just know we're safe for now and that you need to sit down."

Another loveseat popped out of thin air and Percy J. and Annabeth C. fell into it.

"Falling?" Percy asked.

Percy J. and Annabeth C. shook their heads.

"What year are you from?" Zeus asked.

"Summer 2011" Percy J. answered.

"Next year" Annabeth said.

Percy J. and Annabeth C. looked confused.

"We're from summer 2010" Percy explained.

"You're from the smae time as us?" Leo, Piper, Frank and Hazel all asked.

"Hazel? Frank? Piper? Leo? Jason?" Percy J. asked Annabeth C. had fallen asleep.

They exchanged their hello's except for Jason because he didn't know them.

There was still 3 people to be introduced.

"Now who are you 3?" Athena asked the remaining girl, boy, and cyclopes.

"The boy stepped forward.

He had blonde hair and gold, almost yellow, that had had specks of yellow in them...he looked a lot like Apollo and was very handsome.

"I am Lee Fletcher, Son of Apollo, Head of Apollo cabin" the boy said and two other boys from the new arrivals looked confused.

But all the future people looked sad.

The next boy came up, he had brown hair and brown eyes and a scrunched up face.

"I am Michael Yew, Son of Apollo, head of Apollo cabin" he said and Lee narrowed his eyes.

But before he could say something the last boy stepped forward.

He had blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"I am Will Solace, Son of Apollo, Head of Apollo cabinn and healer" the boy said.

"How are there 3 leaders?" Piper asked.

"They all must be from a different time" Percy suggested.

"What year are you from?" Athena asked.

"Summer 2004" Lee said.

"Winter 2009" Michael answered.

"Summer 2011" Will said.

"That makes sense now!" a few people said.

"Finally! Some of my children!" Apollo said.

Finally the cyclopes stepped forward.

"I am Tyson" he said shyly.

Both Percys **(or would it be percies?)** stood up.

Percy sat back down and gestured for Percy J. to go.

"He's not just Tyson. He's General Tyson of Cyclopes in Poseidon's army and my brother" Percy J. said and Poseidon looked proud.

"BROTHER!" Tyson yelled and ran to Percy J.

Percy stood up again.

"Hey Tyson...hug me. He's hurt" Percy said and Tyson gave him a huge bear hug.

"Ok ok can't breath" Percy said.

Tyson put him down and sat on a couch.

Percy J. mouthed a thank you to Percy and they both sat down with their Annabeths.

After a briefing Athena picked up the book.

"Who's reading?" she asked.

Hades raised his hand and the book was passed to him.

**"Tyson plays with fire," **Hades read.

"Me?" Tyson asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Yay! I am mentioned!" Tyson clapped.

**Mythologically speaking, if there's anything I hate worse than trios of old ladies, it's bulls. Last summer, I fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill. This time what I saw up there was even worse: two bulls. And not just regular bulls-bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn't bad enough. Naturally they had to breathe fire, too.**

"Naturally" Poseidon grumbled.

**As soon as we exited the taxi, the Gray Sisters peeled out, heading back to New York, where life was safer. They didn't even wait for their extra three-drachma payment. **

"Nice!" Hermes said.

**They just left us on the side of the road, Annabeth with nothing but her backpack and knife, Tyson and me still in our burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes.**

**"Oh, man," said Annabeth, looking at the battle raging on the hill.**

**What worried me most weren't the bulls themselves. Or the ten heroes in full battle armor who were getting their bronze-plated booties whooped. What worried me was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the back side of the pine tree. That shouldn't have been possible. The camp's magic boundaries didn't allow monsters to cross past Thalia's tree. But the metal bulls were doing it anyway.**

"What's wrong with camp?" Athena asked.

"What's wrong with my daughter's tree?" Zeus growled.]

Thalia looked down.

**One of the heroes shouted, "Border patrol, to me!" A girl's voice-gruff and familiar.**

Everyone looked at Clarisse.

"Yup! It's me!" she said.

**Border patrol? I thought. The camp didn't have a border patrol.**

**"It's Clarisse," Annabeth said. "Come on, we have to help her."**

**Normally, rushing to Clarisse's aid would not have been high on my "to do" list. **

Clarisse glared at both Percys.

**She was one of the biggest bullies at camp. The first time we'd met she tried to introduce my head to a toilet. She was also a daughter of Ares, and I'd had a very serious disagreement with her father last summer, so now the god of war and all his children basically hated my guts.**

"Got that right Prissy but I hated you before that when you doused me with toilet water!" Clarisse said.

Percy and Percy J. rolled thier eyes.

A few people coughed trying to hold in/disguise a laugh.

**Still, she was in trouble. Her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, **

A few people snickered.

**t****he horsehair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery Mohawk. Clarisse's own armor was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.**

**I uncapped my ballpoint pen. It shimmered, growing longer and heavier until I held the bronze sword Anaklusmos in my hands. "Tyson, stay here. I don't want you taking any more chances."**

**"No!" Annabeth said. "We need him."**

**I stared at her. "He's mortal. He got lucky with the dodge balls but he can't-"**

**"Percy, do you know what those are up there? The Colchis bulls, made by Hephaestus himself. We can't fight them without Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000. We'll get burned to a crisp."**

"You made them?" Leo asked.

Hephaestus nodded.

"Cool!" Leo said and a few people face palmed.

"They're destroying Camp" Jason said.

"But they're cool!" Leo argued.

**"Medea's what?"**

**Annabeth rummaged through her backpack and cursed. "I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my night-stand at home. Why didn't I bring it?"**

"Yeah! Why did you bring it?" the Stolls asked in unision.

**I'd learned a long time ago not to question Annabeth too much. It just made me more confused. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to let Tyson get fried."**

**"Percy-"**

**"Tyson, stay back." I raised my sword. "I'm going in."**

**Tyson tried to protest, but I was already running up the hill toward Clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation. It was a good idea. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide-and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.**

**Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire. Annabeth ran toward them, trying to help. She taunted one of the bulls into chasing her, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. The other bull charged Clarisse's line.**

**I was halfway up the hill-not close enough to help. Clarisse hadn't even seen me yet.**

**The bull moved deadly fast for something so big. Its metal hide gleamed in the sun. It had fist-sized rubies for eyes, and horns of polished silver. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out.**

"I can do this" Leo said and lit his hand "but not that."

Everyone gasped.

"Did he tell us he was a fire user?" Apollo asked.

"I don't remember" Hermes said.

"He didn't mention it" Athena said.

"Oops" Leo said and unlit his hand.

"Fire users are dangerous" Bekendorf said.

"Trust me I know" Leo said remembering his mom.

"I'm sure Leo wouldn't do anything to hurt somone unless he needed to" Athena said.

Everyone dropped it.

Leo silently said thatnk you and Athena smiled at him.

**"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered her warriors.**

**Whatever else you could say about Clarisse, she was brave. She was a big girl with cruel eyes like her father's. She looked like she was born to wear Greek battle armor, but I didn't see how even she could stand against that bull's charge.**

"Thanks...Percy" Clarisse said.

"Did you hear that? Did everyone hear that? She called me Percy!" Percy said.

A few people chuckled and smiled.

"Never again Prissy" Clarisse smirked.

"And there it goes" Percy said and everyone laughed.

**Unfortunately, at that moment, the other bull lost interest in finding Annabeth. It turned, wheeling around behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.**

**"Behind you!" I yelled. "Look out!"**

**I shouldn't have said anything, because all I did was startle her. Bull Number One crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smoldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath. Their shields melted right off their arms. They dropped their weapons and ran as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.**

**I lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armor. I dragged her out of the way just as Bull Number Two freight-trained past. I gave it a good swipe with Riptide and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept on going.**

**It hadn't touched me, but I could feel the heat of its metal skin. Its body temperature could've microwaved a frozen burrito.**

**"Let me go!" Clarisse pummeled my hand. "Percy, curse you!"**

"Curse you? He just saved your life" Piper said.

Clarisse shrugged.

"It's a hate hate friendship" Percy said.

Everyone laughed.

Percy J. had fallen asleep with Annabeth C.

**I dropped her in a heap next to the pine tree and turned to face the bulls. We were on the inside slope of the hill now, the valley of Camp Half-Blood directly below us-the cabins, the training facilities, the Big House-all of it at risk if these bulls got past us.**

**Annabeth shouted orders to the other heroes, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted.**

**Bull Number One ran a wide arc, making its way back toward me. As it passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should've kept it out, it slowed down a little, as if it were struggling against a strong wind; but then it broke through and kept coming. Bull Number Two turned to face me, fire sputtering from the gash I'd cut in its side. I couldn't tell if it felt any pain, but its ruby eyes seemed to glare at me like I'd just made things personal.**

**I couldn't fight both bulls at the same time. I'd have to take down Bull Number Two first, cut its head off before Bull Number One charged back into range. My arms already felt tired. I realized how long it had been since I'd worked out with Riptide, how out of practice I was.**

"Not good" Poseidon said.

**I lunged but Bull Number Two blew flames at me. I rolled aside as the air turned to pure heat. All the oxygen was sucked out of my lungs. My foot caught on something-a tree root, maybe-and pain shot up my ankle. Still, I managed to slash with my sword and lop off part of the monster's snout. It galloped away, wild and disoriented. But before I could feel too good about that, I tried to stand, and my left leg buckled underneath me. My ankle was sprained, maybe broken.**

Poseidon and Sally were pale.

"Please don't die" Sally said.

"I'll try mom" Percy said.

**Bull Number One charged straight toward me. No way could I crawl out of its path.**

**Annabeth shouted: "Tyson, help him!"**

**Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, "Can't-get-through!"**

**"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"**

**Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly Tyson was there, barreling toward me, yelling: "Percy needs help!"**

**Before I could tell him no, he dove between me and the bull just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm.**

**"Tyson!" I yelled.**

**The blast swirled around him like a red tornado. I could only see the black silhouette of his body. I knew with horrible certainty that my friend had just been turned into a column of ashes.**

**But when the fire died, Tyson was still standing there, completely unharmed. Not even his grungy clothes were scorched. The bull must've been as surprised as I was, because before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "BAD COW!"**

Everyone laughed.

"GO TYSON!" Connor, Travis, Leo, Apollo, and Hermes cheered.

Tyson blushed.

**His fists made a crater where the bronze bull's snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears. Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil. The bull's face now looked like a sock puppet pulled inside out.**

**"Down!" Tyson yelled.**

**The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in odd places.**

**Annabeth ran over to check on me.**

"Course you did Annie" Nico joked.

"If you wanna keep your toungue di Angelo don't call me Annie" Annabeth said.

Nico put his hands over his mouth witha look of terror on his face.

**My ankle felt like it was filled with acid, but she gave me some Olympian nectar to drink from her canteen, and I immediately started to feel better. There was a burning smell that I later learned was me. The hair on my arms had been completely singed off.**

**"The other bull?" I asked.**

**Annabeth pointed down the hill. Clarisse had taken care of Bad Cow Number Two. She'd impaled it through the back leg with a celestial bronze spear. Now, with its snout half gone and a huge gash in its side, it was trying to run in slow motion, going in circles like some kind of merry-go-round animal.**

Everyone laughed a little.

**Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward us. A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she didn't seem to notice. "You-ruin-everything!" she yelled at me. "I had it under control!"**

**I was too stunned to answer. Annabeth grumbled, "Good to see you too, Clarisse."**

**"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"**

"Did you ever?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah I did" Percy said.

Everyone laughed.

**"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "you've got wounded campers."**

**That sobered her up. Even Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command.**

**"I'll be back," she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.**

**I stared at Tyson. "You didn't die."**

**Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."**

**"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."**

**"Let him cross the boundary line?'" I asked. "But-"**

Everyone laughed as they imagined how confused Percy was.

**"Percy," she said, "have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean … in the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."**

**The Mist makes humans see only what their brains can process … I knew it could fool demigods too, but…**

**I looked Tyson in the face. It wasn't easy. I'd always had trouble looking directly at him, though I'd never quite understood why. I'd thought it was just because he always had peanut butter in his crooked teeth. I forced myself to focus at his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eyes.**

**No, not eyes.**

**One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.**

**"Tyson," I stammered. "You're a …"**

**"Cyclops," Annabeth offered. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."**

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" the girls all said.

"Thats so sad" Hera said.

**"One of the what?"**

**"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully. "They're … mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods … Well, one god in particular, usually …**

Everyone looked at Poseidon.

Poseidon coughed and looked around the room.

**and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."**

**"But the fire. How-"**

**"He's a Cyclops." Annabeth paused, as if she were remembering something unpleasant. "They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you."**

**I was completely shocked. How had I never realized what Tyson was?**

"Slow" Thalia offered and Nico laughed but then a wave of water crashed onto them.

"Yeah I'm slow all right" Percy said.

**But I didn't have much time to think about it just then. The whole side of the hill was burning. Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of, which I didn't figure would fit in our normal recycling bins.**

**Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."**

**"Tantalus?" I asked.**

**"The activities director," Clarisse said impatiently.**

**"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here."**

"Something is definately wrong here" Athena said.

**Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing."**

**"But Chiron … He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?"**

**"That happened," Clarisse snapped.**

**She pointed to Thalia's tree.**

**Every camper knew the story behind the tree. Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and two other demigods named Thalia and Luke had come to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters. When they got cornered on top of this hill, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had made her last stand here to give her friends time to reach safety. As she was dying, her father, Zeus, took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree. Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.**

Thalia smiled sadly.

Luke, Annabeth and Grover looked pained.

**But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.**

**A sliver of ice ran through my chest. Now I understood why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying.**

**Someone had poisoned it.**

"WHAT?!" Zeus roared.

Everyone looked take aback.

"WHO POISONED MY DAUGHTER'S TREE?" Zeus thundered.

Everyone looked scared.

"Lord Zeus?" Annabeth C., who had been woken up by the Lord of the skies yelling, asked.

"WHAT?" Zeus said.

"It'll explain in the book" Annabeth C. did not even flinch, she's been through a lot and she wasn't afraid of Zeus.

"Very well" Zeus growled and sat down.

_"He does care"_ Thalia and Luke thought, Thalia happily and Luke bitterly.

"Who's next?" Hades asked.

Chiron raised his hand and Hades handed the book to the teacher.

* * *

**he does care! no challenge. review please and check out the new poll and my other pjo stories!:D see ya tonight witht he gods high school is hard update**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	6. I Get a New Cabin Mate

**hey y'all im back!:)**

******So tomorrow it will be my 2-year anniversary on FanFiction! WooHooo! In honor of this I will be posting like crazy this weekend! all my stories! and some new ones! its a PrincessOfWisdom weekend! all my stories will be updated and a few new stories will be added:) maybe ill finish a few stories...pysche! all my stories are to new! but ill try to get them all going strong! come celebrate with me! all weekend fellow demigods! LOL!**

******now for reviewer answers!**

******PercabethAddiction**That was great please write more! Loved the chapter and your very good writer  
**~thank you:) i hope you like the new chapter**

**I Am Sven Son of Boreas** You're a good writer. I hope you would do the whole series. And update soon! XD  
**~I plan on having the series and heroes of olympus books done by the time House of Hades comes out**

**ChrysosArgentum **Ace! You should slowly bring in some of the others post-MOA, and surrepticiously make tyson disappear when percy kinda-sorta resents him after he's claimed xx  
**~I'm gonna have to do something like that so the big lug doesn't get his feelings hurt:) i most likely will bring in other MoA characters too:)**

**you guys are really great:') virtual cookies!**

**this chapter is dedicated to every person who ahs ever reviewed or read this story! from a guest named **monkey joe** and **swimmer98 **who were the first two to ever review my first reading book story to **paradiseisland101/allen r **reoccuring reviewers for these stories to **percabethlvrknowsall **someone i have found a really good frined in and a loyal reader to **Alberts24 **the last person to review this story before this update and to **SeaWolf90** a new loyal reader! this chatper is for all my readers!:) i love you all!**

**also i just realized! im only on chapter 6 and i've all ready passed 100 reviews! thanks**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"I get a new cabin mate,"** Chiron read.

**Ever come home and found your room messed up? Like some helpful person (hi, Mom) has tried to "clean" it,**

"Hi mom" Percy and Percy J said.

Sally laughed.

"Hi Percy" she said.

Everyone laughed.

**and suddenly you can't find anything? And even if nothing is missing, you get that creepy feeling like somebody's been looking through your private stuff and dusting everything with lemon furniture polish?**

**That's kind of the way I felt seeing Camp Half-Blood again.**

**On the surface, things didn't look all that different. The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wraparound porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley-the amphitheater, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins-a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.**

**But there was an air of danger now. You could tell something was wrong. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars.**

All the Camp Half Blood demigods looked down.

**Somebody had messed with my favorite place in the world, and I was not … well, a happy camper.**

"Wow" Thalia and Nico said shaking their heads.

Percy stuck his toungue at them.

**As we made our way to the Big House, I recognized a lot of kids from last summer. Nobody stopped to talk. Nobody said, "Welcome" some did double takes when they saw Tyson, but most just walked grimly past and carried on with their duties-running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels. The camp felt like a military school. And believe me, I know. I've been kicked out of a couple.**

"How many?" Apollo asked.

Percy thought for a second.

"3" he said and everyone laughed.

"I didn't know it was possible to be kicked out of military school" Thalia said.

"It's called being me, a fun, happy person" Percy said.

"I love the fun happy Percy" Annabeth smiled and kissed her boyfriend.

Percy kissed her back.

"You're the serious one" Percy smiled.

Percy J and Annabeth C chuckled at the younger versions of themselves.

**None of that mattered to Tyson. He was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw. "Whasthat!" he gasped.**

**"The stables for pegasi," I said. "The winged horses."**

**"Whasthat!"**

**"Um … those are the toilets."**

"Awkward..." the Stolls said in a sing-song voice.

Tyson blushed.

**"Whasthat!"**

**"The cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin-that brown one over there-until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group."**

**He looked at me in awe. "You … have a cabin?"**

**"Number three." I pointed to a low gray building made of sea stone.**

Percy and Poseidon smiled.

Percy J. looked sad.

"Whats wrong older Percy?" Nico asked.

"I haven't seen my cabin in a looooooong time" Percy J. replied.

"I haven't seen you in a loooooooooooooong time" Annabeth C said.

"Sorry love, not my fault" Percy J. kissed his Annabeth.

"Don't do it again" Annabeth C said and kissed her boyfriend back.

**"You live with friends in the cabin?"**

**"No. No, just me." I didn't feel like explaining. The embarrassing truth: I was the only one who stayed in that cabin because I wasn't supposed to be alive. **

"It was a fantastic accident though!" Sally said.

Everyone agreed with her.

Percy and Percy J. blushed.

**The "Big Three" gods-Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades-had made a pact after World War II not to have any more children with mortals. We were more powerful than regular half-bloods. We were too unpredictable. When we got mad we tended to cause problems … like World War II, for instance. The "Big Three" pact had only been broken twice-once when Zeus sired Thalia, once when Poseidon sired me. Neither of us should've been born.**

"Don't forget Jason!" Hermes said.

Jason looked up at his name.

"I didn't know Jason!" Percy defended.

**Thalia had gotten herself turned into a pine tree when she was twelve. Me … well, I was doing my best not to follow her example. **

"Haha" Thalia said.

"Sorry Thals!" Percy smiled.

"Don't call me that Kelp Head" Thalai smirked.

Percy, being the mature teenager he was, stuck his tounge at her.

**I had nightmares about what Poseidon might turn me into if I were ever on the verge of death- plankton, maybe. Or a floating patch of kelp.**

"I wouldn't turn you into those things...maybe a dolphin" Poseidon joked.

The two Percys had weird looks on their faces.

**When we got to the Big House, we found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favorite 1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. I guess I should mention-Chiron is a centaur. From the waist up he looks like a regular middle-aged guy with curly brown hair and a scraggly beard. From the waist down, he's a white stallion. He can pass for human by compacting his lower half into a magic wheelchair. In fact, he'd passed himself off as my Latin teacher during my sixth-grade year. But most of the time, if the ceilings are high enough, he prefers hanging out in full centaur form.**

**As soon as we saw him, Tyson froze. "Pony!" he cried in total rapture.**

Everyone laughed as Tyson blushed.

**Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?"**

**Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not … leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her.**

Annabeth and Annabeth C. gave Chiron a smile.

Chiron returned the smile.

**Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile. "Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over the year!**

"Why do ALL adults say that?" Leo asked.

"Cause it's true" most of the adults said.

"Or we have nothing else to say" the rest said.

**I swallowed. "Clarisse said you were … you were …"**

**"Fired." Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humor. "Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."**

Dionysus looked down.

**"Besides himself, you mean," I growled. Just the thought of the camp director, Mr. D, made me angry.**

"Remember that I am a god Peter Johnson!" Dionysus said.

"It's embedded in my brain Mr. D" Percy said and tapped his head with his forefinger.

**"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!"**

**"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances."**

"I know Chiron would never do something like that!" Zeus said.

The other Olympians nodded in agreement.

**"What circumstances?" I asked.**

**Chiron's face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box.**

**Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron's flank but was afraid to come closer. "Pony?"**

**Chiron sniffed. "My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur."**

"It's almost like Nico calling Dionysus the Wine dude" Percy laughed and Nico blushed.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"When I brought Nico to Camp with Bianca Nico couldn't think of Mr. D's name off the bat and called him the wine dude and Mr. D got mad" Percy explained.

"Shut up Percy!" Nico threw a pillow at the Son of Poseidon.

Percy stuck his tongue at him.

**"Chiron," I said. "What about the tree? What happened?"**

**He shook his head sadly. "The poison used on Thalia's pine is something from the Underworld, Percy. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus."**

Annabeth C. cringed at the mention of Tarturas.

Percy J. rubbed her arm comfortably.

"It's okay...we're gonna be together" Percy J. whispered.

**"Then we know who's responsible. Kro-"**

**"Do not invoke the titan lord's name, Percy. Especially not here, not now."**

**"But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He'd get Luke to do it, that traitor."**

Luke looked down in shame.

If he was the one who poisoned the tree he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

No one said anything but Hermes put his head in his hands.

"Not yet" he whispered.

**"Perhaps," Chiron said. "But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless …"**

Zeus looked worried.

**"Unless what?" Annabeth asked.**

**"No," Chiron said. "A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago."**

"We found it" Percy said looking at Annabeth and Clarisse and Grover.

"Found what?" Apollo asked.

"You'll see" Percy said.

Leo, the Stolls, Apollo and Hermes threw their arms in the air in exasperation.

"I hate those words!" they said.

**"What is it?" I asked. "We'll go find it!"**

**Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boom box. Then he turned and rested his hand on my shoulder, looking me straight in the eyes. "Percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother I did not want you to come here at all this summer. It's much too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave."**

"If you tell him not to leave he'll leave" Athena said "he's Poseidon's son."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Poseidon asked Athena.

"He's rebellious" Athena said.

"Yeah...you get it from me" Poseidon said.

"We established last book that he got it from Sally and Poseidon!" Thalia said.

"If it weren't for rebellious Percy half of us wouldn't be here" Annabeth said.

"_I _wouldn't be here if it weren't for you Wise Girl" Percy smiled at kissed Annabeth.

**"Why?" I asked. "I want to do something! I can't just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be-"**

**"Overrun by monsters," Chiron said. "Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the titan lord. Remember last summer! He almost took your life."**

"Lets not remeber that" Luke grumbled, how did everything go so wrong?

**It was true, but still, I wanted to help so badly. I also wanted to make Kronos pay. I mean, you'd think the titan lord would've learned his lesson eons ago when he was overthrown by the gods. You'd think getting chopped into a million pieces and cast into the darkest part of the Underworld would give him a subtle clue that nobody wanted him around. But no.**

Everyone laughed.

"One would think" Artemis said.

**Because he was immortal, he was still alive down there in Tartarus-suffering in eternal pain, hungering to return and take revenge on Olympus. He couldn't act on his own, but he was great at twisting the minds of mortals and even gods to do his dirty work.**

**The poisoning had to be his doing. Who else would be so low as to attack Thalia's tree, the only thing left of a hero who'd given her life to save her friends?**

"Yeah seriously! That's low even for Kronos" Hermess aid.

**Annabeth was trying hard not to cry. Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. "Stay with Percy, child," he told her. "Keep him safe. The prophecy-remember it!"**

"Did you?" the Stolls asked.

Annabeth nodded.

"And I'll stay with him to the end" Annabeth said.

"To the end" Percy nodded in agreement staring into Annabeth's eyes.

"To Tarturas" Percy J. said smiling down at Annabeth C.

"I love you" both Annabeth's said to their Percys.

Percy and Percy J. kissed Annabeth and Annabeth C.

"Ewwwwwwwwwwww" Thalia and Nico said.

"I can only do one couple!" Thalia said.

"Not two!" Nico said.

The couples didn't stop.

Thalia and Nico pretended to puke.

"Please read before I have to listen to anymore soppy, lovey-dovey stuff" Thalia said.

Aphrodite squeled.

**"I-I will.**

**"Um …" I said. "Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?"**

**Nobody answered.**

**"Right," I muttered. "Just checking."**

Everyone shook their heads...gotta love Percy.

**"Chiron …" Annabeth said. "You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp-"**

**"Swear you will do your best to keep Percy from danger," he insisted. "Swear upon the River Styx."**

**"I-I swear it upon the River Styx," Annabeth said.**

**Thunder rumbled outside.**

"Now you have to keep the promise!" Percy said.

"I'm glad I did" Annabeth smiled at Percy who returned it with his famous crooked smile that made Annabeth's heart melt.

**"Very well," Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. "Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It's possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved … one way or another."**

**Annabeth stifled a sob. Chiron patted her shoulder awkwardly. "There, now, child. I must entrust your safety to Mr. D and the new activities director. We must hope … well, perhaps they won't destroy the camp quite as quickly as I fear."**

"That doesn't sound good" the Olympians said.

**"Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?" I demanded. "Where does he get off taking your job?"**

**A conch horn blew across the valley. I hadn't realized how late it was. It was time for the campers to assemble for dinner.**

**"Go," Chiron said. "You will meet him at the pavilion. I will contact your mother, Percy, and let her know you're safe. No doubt she'll be worried by now. Just remember my warning! You are in grave danger. Do not think for a moment that the titan lord has forgotten you!"**

**With that, he clopped out of the apartment and down the hall, Tyson calling after him, "Pony! Don't go!"**

Everyone smiled as Tyson blushed.

A few girls sniffed.

"Poor Chiron" they said.

**I realized I'd forgotten to tell Chiron about my dream of Grover. Now it was too late. The best teacher I'd ever had was gone, maybe for good.**

Percy smiled at Chiron.

**Tyson started bawling almost as bad as Annabeth. I tried to tell them that things would be okay, but I didn't believe it.**

Annabeth sniffed and Percy whiped a tear from her cheek.

"We got him back" Percy said.

Annabeth nodded.

**The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins. We stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Annabeth was still pretty shaken up, but she promised she'd talk to us later. Then she went off to join her siblings from the Athena cabin-a dozen boys and girls with blond hair and gray eyes like hers. Annabeth wasn't the oldest, but she'd been at camp more summers than just about anybody. You could tell that by looking at her camp necklace-one bead for every summer, and Annabeth had six. No one questioned her right to lead the line.**

Annabeth, Annabeth C, and Athena smiled.

**Next came Clarisse, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling a****nd a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn't seem to have fazed her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, YOU MOO, GIRL! But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it.**

Everyone laughed.

"Who did it?" Clarisse asked.

Connor put his hands up in innocence.

Travis looked around the room.

Clarisse glared at him.

"Okay! I did it! Gods!" Travis said.

"You just wait Stoll" Clarisse said and Travis gulped.

**After the Ares kids came the Hephaestus cabin-six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, **

Everyone looked at Bekendorf who sat up a little taller.

A few future demigods looked down, sad.

They missed Bekendorf.

Hephaestsus smiled at his son.

**a big fifteen-year-old African American kid. He had hands the size of catchers' mitts and a face that was hard and squinty from looking into a blacksmiths forge all day. He was nice enough once you got to know him, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles. Most just called him Beckendorf. Rumor was he could make anything. Give him a chunk of metal and he could create a razor-sharp sword or a robotic warrior or a singing birdbath for your grandmother's garden. Whatever you wanted.**

The demigods smiled, some sadly.

Hephaestus didn't notice the sad smiles, he just looked proudly at Bekendorf.

**The other cabins filed in: Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, Dionysus. Naiads came up from the canoe lake. Dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs, who reminded me painfully of Grover.**

"Led by Kit Kat, Lee, Silena, and Castor and Pollux!" Travis said.

"Kit kat?" a few poeple asked and Katie blushed.

"That's my nickname for Katie" Travis said and Katie blushed more and nodded.

"Cute" Aphrodite squeled!

This time Travis blushed to.

"All the couples have nicknames!" Aphrodite squeled.

The couples all blushed.

"What's your guys's Piper?" Leo asked.

Piper blushed.

"Jason's Sparky and I'm Pipes" Piper said.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwww" Aphrodite said.

**I'd always had a soft spot for the satyrs. When they were at camp, they had to do all kinds of odd jobs for Mr. D, the director, but their most important work was out in the real world. They were the camp's seekers. They went undercover into schools all over the world, looking for potential half-bloods and escorting them back to camp. That's how I'd met Grover. He had been the first one to recognize I was a demigod.**

**After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear. They were always the biggest cabin. Last summer, it had been led by Luke, the guy who'd fought with Thalia and Annabeth on top of Half-Blood Hill. For a while, before Poseidon had claimed me, I'd lodged in the Hermes cabin. Luke had befriended me … and then he'd tried to kill me.**

Luke looked down.

**Now the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll. **

"YEAH!" the Stolls cheered!

They high fived each other.

**They weren't twins, but they looked so much alike it didn't matter. I could never remember which one was older. **

"Me!" Travis said and smiled.

**They were both tall and skinny, with mops of brown hair that hung in their eyes. They wore orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts untucked over baggy shorts, and they had those elfish features all Hermes's kids had: upturned eyebrows, sarcastic smiles, a gleam in their eyes whenever they looked at you-like they were about to drop a firecracker down your shirt. I'd always thought it was funny that the god of thieves would have kids with the last name "Stoll," but the only time I mentioned it to Travis and Connor, they both stared at me blankly like they didn't get the joke.**

Everyone laughed.

"It is ironic" Nico said.

"I don't get it" the Stolls said.

Everyone face palmed.

**As soon as the last campers had filed in, I led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion. Conversations faltered. Heads turned. "Who invited that?" somebody at the Apollo table murmured.**

Percy and Percy J. clutched their fists.

Tyson looked confused.

**I glared in their direction, but I couldn't figure out who'd spoken.**

The 3 sons of Apollo shook their heads when everyone looked at him.

"Wasn't us" they said.

**From the head table a familiar voice drawled, "Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete."**

**I gritted my teeth. "Percy Jackson … sir."**

"Just give it up man!" Connor said and everyone laughed.

**Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever."**

**He was wearing his usual leopard-pattern Hawaiian shirt, walking shorts, and tennis shoes with black socks. With his pudgy belly and his blotchy red face, he looked like a Las Vegas tourist who'd stayed up too late in the casinos. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time.**

**Mr. D's real name is Dionysus. The god of wine. Zeus appointed him director of Camp Half-Blood to dry out for a hundred years-a punishment for chasing some off-limits wood nymph.**

Zeus looked pointedly at Dionysus.

**Next to him, where Chiron usually sat (or stood, in centaur form), was someone I'd never seen before-a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner's jumpsuit. The number over his pocket read 0001. He had blue shadows under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut gray hair, like his last haircut had been done with a weed whacker. He stared at me; his eyes made me nervous. He looked … fractured. Angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.**

"Cause he was" Annabeth said.

**"This boy," Dionysus told him, "you need to watch. Poseidon's child, you know."**

**"Ah!" the prisoner said. "That one."**

Poseidon, Percy, and Percy J. narrowed their eyes.

"That one?" they asked.

**His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed me at length.**

**"I am Tantalus," the prisoner said, smiling coldly. "On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Perseus Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."**

**"Trouble?" I demanded.**

**Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table-the front page of today's New York Post, There was my yearbook picture from Meriwether Prep. It was hard for me to make out the headline, but I had a pretty good guess what it said. Something like: Thirteen-Year-Old Lunatic Torches Gymnasium.**

"Never a break for you is there?" Demeter asked.

"Nope" Percy said popping the p.

**"Yes, trouble," Tantalus said with satisfaction. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand."**

**I was too mad to speak. Like it was my fault the gods had almost gotten into a civil war?**

"Yes" a few people joked.

Percy stuck his tongue at them but Annabeth kissed his cheek.

**A satyr inched forward nervously and set a plate of barbecue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967."**

**The glass filled itself with foamy soda. Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.**

**"Go on, then, old fellow," Dionysus said, a strange sparkle in his eyes. "Perhaps now it will work."**

**Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of root beer spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece of brisket, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.**

"It did a suicide jump!" Connor said.

"That was always the best part" Travis said.

"What?" Apollo asked confused.

"Watching Tantalus chase his food around" Connor said and everyone laughed.

**"Blast!" Tantalus muttered.**

**"Ah, well," Dionysus said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap, working at this camp will be torture enough. I'm sure your old curse will fade eventually."**

**"Eventually," muttered Tantalus, staring at Dionysus's Diet Coke. "Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?"**

**"You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," I said. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can't eat or drink."**

**Tantalus sneered at me. "A real scholar, aren't you, boy?"**

"I learn when I'm around Wise Girl" Percy said "that's a downside."

Annabeth looked at him.

"Kidding love" he said and put his arm around her and kissed her head.

"I love you Seaweed Brain but you're annoying" Annabeth said.

Percy pouted until she kissed his cheek.

**"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive," I said, mildly impressed. "What was it?"**

**Tantalus's eyes narrowed. Behind him, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn me.**

**"I'll be watching you, Percy Jackson," Tantalus said. "I don't want any problems at my camp."**

**"Your camp has problems already … sir."**

Everyone laughed.

**"Oh, go sit down, Johnson," Dionysus sighed. "I believe that table over there is yours-the one where no one else ever wants to sit."**

"Because they can't!" Annabeth said.

"If they could Annabeth would always be there" Thalia said.

"Be quiet!" Annabeth blushed.

**My face was burning, but I knew better than to talk back. Dionysus was an overgrown brat, but he was an immortal, superpowerful overgrown brat. I said, "Come on, Tyson."**

"He really is" Zeus said as Dionysus looked around the room whistling.

**"Oh, no," Tantalus said. "The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it."**

"First of all it's a him not an it, second of all his name is Tyson, and third of all he's not a monster! Go chase a doughnut!" Percy snapped.

Everyone laughed.

**"Him," I snapped. "His name is Tyson."**

**The new activities director raised an eyebrow.**

**"Tyson saved the camp," I insisted. "He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise they would've burned down this whole place."**

**"Yes, what a pity that would be"**

"Pity" Dionysus whispered.

**Dionysus snickered.**

**"Leave us," Tantalus ordered, "while we decide this creature's fate."**

The people that knew Tyson clentched their fists.

**Tyson looked at me with fear in his one big eye, but I knew I couldn't disobey a direct order from the camp directors. Not openly, anyway.**

**"I'll be right over here, big guy," I promised. "Don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."**

**Tyson nodded. "I believe you. You are my friend."**

"Awwwwwww" most of the girls said.

**Which made me feel a whole lot guiltier.**

**I trudged over to the Poseidon table and slumped onto the bench. A wood nymph brought me a plate of Olympian olive-and-pepperoni pizza,**

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm olives" Athena said and everyone laughed.

**but I wasn't hungry. I'd been almost killed twice today. I'd managed to end my school year with a complete disaster. Camp Half-Blood was in serious trouble and Chiron had told me not to do anything about it.**

**I didn't feel very thankful, but I took my dinner, as was customary, up to the bronze brazier and scraped part of it into the flames.**

**"Poseidon," I murmured, "accept my offering."**

**And send me some help while you're at it, I prayed silently. Please.**

**The smoke from the burning pizza changed into something fragrant-the smell of a clean sea breeze with wild-flowers mixed in-but I had no idea if that meant my father was really listening. **

"I'm always listening son" Poseidon smiled.

Percy and Percy J. smiled at their dad.

**I went back to my seat. I didn't think things could get much worse. But then Tantalus had one of the satyrs blow the conch horn to get our attention for announcements.**

**"Yes, well," Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. "Another fine meal! Or so I am told." As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn't notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches.**

**"And here on my first day of authority," he continued, "I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat."**

**Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.**

**"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"**

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo" Apollo and Hermes cheered.

"Those were my favorite!" Hermes smiled.

"They were dangerous" Demeter argued.

"That's why my kids are there" Apollo smiled.

**Murmuring broke out at all the tables-excitement, fear, disbelief.**

**"Now I know," Tantalus continued, raising his voice, "that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."**

**"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," someone at the Apollo table called.**

"Deaths?!" some Olympains asked.

"Mutilations?" the others said.

**"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"**

**An explosion of excited conversation-no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious?**

"That always gets the twerps" Dionysus said.

**Then the last person I expected to object did so.**

**"But, sir!" Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table. Some of the campers snickered when they saw the YOU MOO, GIRL! sign on her back. "What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots-"**

**"Ah, the hero of the day," Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"**

"That was Tyson!" Nico yelled!

"Even if Tyson didn't do it Percy and Annabeth helped! There was also other campers there!" Thalia argued.

Tyson was blushing.

**Clarisse blinked, then blushed. "Um, I didn't-"**

**"And modest, too." Tantalus grinned. "Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?"**

**"But the tree-"**

**"And now," Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse's cabin mates pulled her back into her seat, "before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson.**

Everyone who knew Tyson glared at the book and Thalia, Nico, Percy, Annabeth, Annabeth C. and Percy J. had their fists clentched.

**Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at me. I wanted to kill Tantalus.**

**"Now, of course," he said, "Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. **

"Fudge off!" a few people said.

**Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. **

"You touch my brother and I will personally send you back to the Underworld" Percy growled.

Tyson gave him a huge crooked tooth grin.

**But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes's cabin, possibly?"**

**Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. I couldn't blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.**

"We would have if there was room Perce" Connor said.

"Thanks guys" Percy smiled at them.

**"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"**

**Suddenly everybody gasped.**

**Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. All I could do was stare in disbelief at the brilliant green light that was about to change my life-a dazzling holographic image that had appeared above Tyson's head.**

"He's being claimed" Athena murmered.

"By me!" Poseidon said childishly.

**With a sickening twist in my stomach, I remembered what Annabeth had said about Cyclopes, They're the children of nature spirits and gods … Well, one god in particular, usually …**

Again, Poseidon whistled and looked around the room.

**Swirling over Tyson was a glowing green trident-the same symbol that had appeared above me the day Poseidon had claimed me as his son.**

**There was a moment of awed silence.**

**Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When I'd been claimed by Poseidon last summer, everyone had reverently knelt. But now, they followed Tantalus's lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"**

Poseidon growled.

Percy laughed.

"Yeah! He's the freakin best!" Percy said.

Tyson blushed.

**Everybody laughed except Annabeth and a few of my other friends.**

**Tyson didn't seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people were.**

A few demigods who had laughed when it really happened looked down ashamed.

"Sorry Tyson" they said.

"It's okay" Tyson promised.

**But I got it.**

**I had a new cabin mate. I had a monster for a half-brother.**

"I'm sorry buddy" Percy smiled "you're my favorite brother!"

Tyson clapped in delight.

"Yay!"

"He's your only brother" Annabeth whispered.

"No, there's all the other Cyclopes and Triton" Percy said.

"Oh yeah" Annabeth said.

"Who would like to read now?" Chiron asked.

Hazel raised her hand and the book was passed to her.

* * *

**remeber! princessofwisdom weekend! all my stories are being updated! i really do try to add as much fluff as possible and im sorry it's not much...i seriously try to.**

**im not doing any challenges because im updating again tonight anyway so...**

**check out my poll and the new one shot**

**i just finished reading MoA for the 3rd time hoping that Tarturas was just my imagination when i noticed something.**

**Nico promised to meat Percy and Annabeth at the Doors of Death. now think of the prohpecy...**

**An oath to kepp with a final breath...**

**i have a bad feeling about this...please Rcik don't kill our fave son of hades! i beg of you...if he does i say we hunt him down and force him to write another version without a dead son of hades! who's with me?**

***crickets chirp***

**well...than**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	7. Demon Pigeons Attack

**exactly 2 years ago i joined fanfcition as a terrible Harry Potter writer...now im a freaking amazing PJO writer! Yay! no one reviewed my hp stories but my pjo stories have so many reviews that im done counting.**

**I have loyal readers! i like going back to my first When Gods and Demigods Read...i read it and shake my head at all the mistakes and terible writing...then i look at previous chapters for the sea of monsters and notice how good my writing has gotten.**

**it makes me happy.**

**now reviewer answers!**

**BoxAuthor88 **I'll grab the torches and Pickforks :3 Anyways, happy fanny-fiction annivesrsity! :D And, good chapter. :3  
**~yeah! i might have a torch around here somewhere...thanks:) **

**Lady Kid **Yeah you're afraid of Nico... Do you know how many possibilities I actually think about the 'oath' thing?

Well if you remember the son of Neptune Percy promise to come back and see Sally.

Jason promise to be with Piper.

And just put 'An oath to keep with a final breath' on fafiction's searcher and the first one shot will make you cry... or maybe not. But I almost cry... and it isn't easy to make me cry...

The chapter was amazing and I cannot wait until you update again  
**~lets hope its not percy or jason...then i will bawl like a little baby D': do you remeber what the story was called?**

**tribute324I** have had that same feeling about Nico since I finished it. I am really really hoping he doesnt die, because if he does, I will cry, and then die. Please update soon.  
P.S: If he does kill him off, I will join the hunt with you  
**~i'll cry and die with you:( wooooo another army recruit!**

percabethlvrknowsall someone i have found a really good frined in and a loyal reader

I'm tearing up  
**~don't cry LOL it only said the truth:)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"Demon pigeons attack,"** Hazel read.

"That doesn't sound good" Poseidon commented.

**The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted.**

**First there was Tyson moving into the Poseidon cabin, giggling to himself every fifteen seconds and saying, "Percy is my brother?" like he'd just won the lottery.**

"Awwwwwwwwwwww" some girls cooed.

Tyson blushed.

**"Aw, Tyson," I'd say. "It's not that simple."**

**But there was no explaining it to him. He was in heaven. And me … as much as I liked the big guy, I couldn't help feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. There, I said it.**

Percy cursed.

Tyson looked confused.

"Ashamed?" he asked.

"I'm not ashamed" Percy promised.

"Why are you ashamed?" he asked.

"I'm sure you'll see" Percy said.

"Why my thoughts?" he whispered and Annabeth squeezed his hand.

**My father, the all-powerful Poseidon, had gotten moony-eyed for some nature spirit, and Tyson had been the result. I mean, I'd read the myths about Cyclopes. I even remembered that they were often Poseidon's children. But I'd never really processed that this made them my … family. Until I had Tyson living with me in the next bunk.**

Both Percys were focused on the ground.

"Tyson's gonna hate me" Percy said.

"He won't hate you" Annabeth tried to comfort her boyfriend.

**And then there were the comments from the other campers. Suddenly, I wasn't Percy Jackson, the cool guy who'd retrieved Zeus's lightning bolt last summer. Now I was Percy Jackson, the poor schmuck with the ugly monster for a brother.**

Everyone looked at the Percys.

They were completely focused on the red carpet of the Olympic living room.

Clarisse, Connor, Travis, Annabeth, Chris, Lee, Michael, Will, and Katie were ashamed themselves.

Tyson still wasn't getting it.

Poseidon was a tad upset too, he hadn't meant to hurt Percy.

Hazel continued to read...getting it over with.

**"He's not my real brother!" I protested whenever Tyson wasn't around. "He's more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like … a half-brother twice removed, or something."**

Tyson still looked confused.

"You are ashamed of me?" he asked.

Percy and Percy J. looked at Tyson.

"I-I was big guy. But I'm not anymore! You're the best brother ever! And I'm proud to be your brother...now I'm ashamed of myself" Percy said.

"It is okay brother" Tyson said "I am proud to be your brother! Brave Percy Jackson!"

Percy smiled at his brother and stood up.

"Can I have a hug?"

Tyson hugged Percy in a huge bear hug that luckily didn't squeeze him to death.

Percy patted him on the back.

Percy sat back down with Annabeth.

"I'm proud of you" she smiled and kissed her boyfriend.

"Thanks Wise Girl" he said and kissed her back.

**Nobody bought it.**

**I admit-I was angry at my dad. I felt like being his son was now a joke.**

Poseidon winced a little.

"It's okay dad" Percy J. promised cause Percy and Annabeth had gone back into their own little world filled with small kisses, giggles and intertwined hands.

**Annabeth tried to make me feel better. She suggested we team up for the chariot race to take our minds off our problems. Don't get me wrong-we both hated Tantalus and we were worried sick about camp-but we didn't know what to do about it. Until we could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia's tree, we figured we might as well go along with the races. After all, Annabeth's mom, Athena, had invented the chariot, and my dad had created horses. Together we would own that track.**

"Perfect match!" Thalia said.

Poseidon and Athena were watching their children laugh and chat in the background.

They saw how deep their love went and how happy they made each other.

**One morning Annabeth and I were sitting by the canoe lake sketching chariot designs when some jokers from Aphrodite's cabin walked by and asked me if I needed to borrow some eyeliner for my eye … "Oh sorry, eyes."**

Aphrodite shook her head.

"My own children" she said.

**As they walked away laughing, Annabeth grumbled, "Just ignore them, Percy. It isn't your fault you have a monster for a brother."**

"He's not a monster" Percy argued coming back.

"I know...I'm sorry" Annabeth said.

"I know Wise Girl" Pecy said and kissed her head.

**"He's not my brother!" I snapped. "And he's not a monster, either!"**

**Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Hey, don't get mad at me! And technically, he is a monster."**

**"Well you gave him permission to enter the camp."**

"This is true" Connor said.

"Shut up Stoll" Annabeth said.

Connor shut up.

**"Because it was the only way to save your life! I mean … I'm sorry, Percy, I didn't expect Poseidon to claim him. Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous-"**

"What do you have against Cyclopes?" Piper asked.

"I've had bad experiences" Annabeth said looking at Grover, Thalia and Luke.

**"He is not! What have you got against Cyclopes, any-way?**

**Annabeth's ears turned pink. I got the feeling there was something she wasn't telling me-something bad.**

**"Just forget it," she said. "Now, the axle for this chariot-"**

"Nice subject change!" Travis said.

Annabeth gave him a look which made him shut up.

**"You're treating him like he's this horrible thing," I said. "He saved my life."**

"This is true to" Piper said.

**Annabeth threw down her pencil and stood. "Then maybe you should design a chariot with him."**

**"Maybe I should."**

**"Fine!"**

**"Fine!"**

**She stormed off and left me feeling even worse than before.**

"Couple fight!" Aphrodite said.

"We weren't a couple!" Annabeth, Percy, Percy J. and Annabeth C. said.

**The next couple of days, I tried to keep my mind off my problems.**

**Silena Beauregard,**

Silena smiled.

"I'm mentioned" she said.

Clarisse smiled a sad smile.

Most of the future demigods fallowed her lead.

**one of the nicer girls from Aphrodite's cabin, **

"My sisters are a bit mean...especially Drew" Silena said.

"I don't like Drew" Piper said.

"She can charmspeak and she doesn't use it for good" Silena said.

"I can too but I don't like using it" Piper said.

"You can charmspeak?" Silena said.

Piper nodded.

"I only use it when I have to" Piper said.

Silena nodded in approval and smiled at her sister.

"Une autre chose à propos de Drew est elle n'obtient pas ce que signifie être une fille d'Aphrodite, est" Silena said "Nous sommes tous sur l'amour et le rapprochement des personnes avec la personne parfaite, Drew aime casser les gens."

"Ouais ... elle essaie de me briser et Jason up" Piper said.

"Elle est vraiment dire" Silena said.

"Ouais" Piper said.

Silena smield at her again

"Huh?" Leo, Apollo, Hermes, Connor and Travis asked.

"I heard my name" Jason said.

"They spoke in French!" Aphrodite said.

Piper was confused.

"I didn't even realize" she said.

"All children of Aphrodite can speak French" Silena said "It's the language of love."

"I knew that I just didn't know I spoke it just now" Piper said.

"You did" a few people said.

Piper leaned back into Jason completely bewildered.

**gave me my first riding lesson on a pegasus. She explained that there was only one immortal winged horse named Pegasus, who still wandered free somewhere in the skies, but over the eons he'd sired a lot of children, none quite so fast or heroic, but all named after the first and greatest.**

**Being the son of the sea god, I never liked going into the air. My dad had this rivalry with Zeus, so I tried to stay out of the lord of the sky's domain as much as possible. But riding a winged horse felt different. It didn't make me nearly as nervous as being in an airplane. Maybe that was because my dad had created horses out of sea foam, so the pegasi were sort of … neutral territory. I could understand their thoughts. I wasn't surprised when my pegasus went galloping over the treetops or chased a flock of seagulls into a cloud.**

"Cool! I wanna talk to horses!" Leo said.

"Can all demigods talk to their parent's animal?" Connor asked.

"I don't know...Thalia can you understand eagles?" Nico asked.

"Yeah" Thalia said.

"Case closed!" Nico said and everyone laughed.

**The problem was that Tyson wanted to ride the "chicken ponies," too, but the pegasi got skittish whenever he approached. I told them telepathically that Tyson wouldn't hurt them, but they didn't seem to believe me. That made Tyson cry.**

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" the girls cooed.

"Chicken ponies do not like me" Tyson grumbled.

"Rainbow likes you buddy" Percy smiled.

"RAINBOW!" Tyson said.

"Who's Rainbow?" Frank asked.

"You'll see in this book" Percy promised.

**The only person at camp who had no problem with Tyson was Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin. The blacksmith god had always worked with Cyclopes in his forges, so Beckendorf took Tyson down to the armory to teach him metalworking. He said he'd have Tyson crafting magic items like a master in no time.**

Tyson smiled a crroked toothed grin at Bekendorf and Bekendorf returned it.

**After lunch, I worked out in the arena with Apollo's cabin. Swordplay had always been my strength. People said I was better at it than any camper in the last hundred years, except maybe Luke. People always compared me to Luke.**

"Always Luke" Thalia joked.

"We all know he's better though" Luke said talking for the first time.

"I beat your butt!" Percy smiled.

"You beat Ares!" Luke said "way better."

"True...you're a very close second...a good opponet" Percy smiled.

Luke returned the smile.

**I thrashed the Apollo guys easily. I should've been testing myself against the Ares and Athena cabins, since they had the best sword fighters, but I didn't get along with Clarisse and her siblings, and after my argument with Annabeth, I just didn't want to see her.**

**I went to archery class,**

"I don't like Archery" Percy frowned.

"Why?" Apollo asked.

"Cause I suck" Percy said.

"Well no one is as bad as Poseidon" Athena smirked.

"Hey!" Poseidon said and everyone laughed.

**even though I was terrible at it, and it wasn't the same without Chiron teaching. In arts and crafts, I started a marble bust of Poseidon, but it started looking like Sylvester Stallone, so I ditched it. I scaled the climbing wall in full lava-and-earthquake mode. And in the evenings, I did border patrol. Even though Tantalus had insisted we forget trying to protect the camp, some of the campers had quietly kept it up, working out a schedule during our free times.**

"Smart" Athena said.

**I sat at the top of Half-Blood Hill and watched the dryads come and go, singing to the dying pine tree. Satyrs brought their reed pipes and played nature magic songs, and for a while the pine needles seemed to get fuller. The flowers on the hill smelled a little sweeter and the grass looked greener. But as soon as the music stopped, the sickness crept back into the air. The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree's roots. The longer I sat there, the angrier I got.**

"No one messes with my camp" Percy growled.

**Luke had done this. I remembered his sly smile, the dragon-claw scar across his face. He'd pretended to be my friend, and the whole time he'd been Kronos's number-one servant.**

Luke looked down again, smile gone.

**I opened the palm of my hand. The scar Luke had given me last summer was fading, but I could still see it-a white asterisk-shaped wound where his pit scorpion had stung me.**

Percy looked down at his hand...it was still there.

**I thought about what Luke had told me right before he'd tried to kill me: Good-bye, Percy. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it.**

**At night, I had more dreams of Grover. Sometimes, I just heard snatches of his voice. Once, I heard him say: It's here. Another time: He likes sheep.**

**I thought about telling Annabeth about my dreams, but I would've felt stupid. I mean, He likes sheep? She would've thought I was crazy.**

"You are crazy" Annabeth said.

Percy pouted until she kissed him.

He kisssed her back until Nico yelled.

"PDA! Get a room!"

"Get a girlfriend!" Percy shot back and everyone laughed.

"The girl I like is a freakin Hunter and..." Nico clamped his mouth shut.

"A Hunter?" Artemis asked "stay away from my Hunters!"

"I didn't mean for it to slip!" Nico argued.

"What Hunter Nico?" Thalia joked.

"Forget it" he said.

"Awwwwwwwww" everyone whined.

"I think I know" Annabeth said.

"Don't say anything!" Nico complained.

"Now you know what will happen if you make me mad di Angelo" Annabeth said.

**The night before the race, Tyson and I finished our chariot. It was wicked cool. Tyson had made the metal parts in the armory's forges. I'd sanded the wood and put the carriage together. It was blue and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front. After all that work, it seemed only fair that Tyson would ride shotgun with me, though I knew the horses wouldn't like it, and Tyson's extra weight would slow us down.**

Poseidon smiled at his sons.

They all smiled back.

**As we were turning in for bed, Tyson said, "You are mad?"**

**I realized I'd been scowling. "Nah. I'm not mad."**

**He lay down in his bunk and was quiet in the dark. His body was way too long for his bed. When he pulled up the covers, his feet stuck out the bottom. "I am a monster."**

**"Don't say that."**

**"It is okay. I will be a good monster. Then you will not have to be mad."**

"That's so sweet" Hazel said.

**I didn't know what to say. I stared at the ceiling and felt like I was dying slowly, right along with Thalia's tree.**

**"It's just… I never had a half-brother before." I tried to keep my voice from cracking. "It's really different for me. And I'm worried about the camp. And another friend of mine, Grover … he might be in trouble. I keep feeling like I should be doing something to help, but I don't know what."**

"That's was the truth just not the whole truth" Percy J. said.

**Tyson said nothing.**

**"I'm sorry," I told him. "It's not your fault. I'm mad at Poseidon. I feel like he's trying to embarrass me, like he's trying to compare us or something, and I don't understand why."**

_"_I wouldn't compare you to anyone" Poseidon smiled.

Percy J. smiled at him.

"Thanks" he said.

**I heard a deep rumbling sound. Tyson was snoring.**

"I still don't know how he falls asleep so fast" Percy J. said and everyone laughed.

**I sighed. "Good night, big guy."**

**And I closed my eyes, too.**

**In my dream, Grover was wearing a wedding dress.**

"I wonder what that would look like" Connor said looking at Grover.

Grover shook his head.

"No! I will not dress up in a white wedding dress for your entertainment" Grover said.

"Awwwwwwwwwwww" everyone complained.

**It didn't fit him very well. The gown was too long and the hem was caked with dried mud. The neckline kept falling off his shoulders. A tattered veil covered his face.**

**He was standing in a dank cave, lit only by torches. There was a cot in one corner and an old-fashioned loom in the other, a length of white cloth half woven on the frame. And he was staring right at me, like I was a TV program he'd been waiting for. "Thank the gods!" he yelped. "Can you hear me?"**

"Almost like that commercial, Can you hear me now?" Nico said.

"Yes!" a few people responded.

"Good!" Nico said and everyone laughed.

**My dream-self was slow to respond. **

"It's not just your dream self" Nico said looking at Percy.

Percy didn't even look up.

He was to absorbed in Annabeth.

They kissed again all smiles.

Percy was playing with a strand of her blonde hair as she layed her head on his chest.

**I was still looking around, taking in the stalactite ceiling, the stench of sheep and goats, the growling and grumbling and bleating sounds that seemed to echo from behind a refrigerator-sized boulder, which was blocking the room's only exit, as if there were a much larger cavern beyond it.**

**"Percy?" Grover said. "Please, I don't have the strength to project any better. You have to hear me!"**

**"I hear you," I said. "Grover, what's going on?"**

**From behind the boulder, a monstrous voice yelled, "Honeypie! Are you done yet?"**

"Honeypie?" a few people asked.

"I wonder what Juniper will say about this" Nico said.

**Grover flinched. He called out in falsetto, "Not quite, dearest! A few more days!"**

**"Bah! Hasn't it been two weeks yet?"**

**"N-no, dearest. Just five days. That leaves twelve more to go."**

**The monster was silent, maybe trying to do the math. He must've been worse at arithmetic than I was, because he said, "All right, but hurry! I want to SEEEEE under that veil, heh-heh-heh."**

"Idiot" Thalai coughed and everyone laughed.

**Grover turned back to me. "You have to help me! No time! I'm stuck in this cave. On an island in the sea."**

**"Where?"**

**"I don't know exactly! I went to Florida and turned left."**

"Helpful" Apollo said.

"Island in the sea..." Poseidon said and it came to him.

"No!" he whispered and everyone looked at him.

He watched Percy and Annabeth laugh and smile and kiss.

They probably haven't even heard this entire chapter.

"I'm sure it'll say in the book...though I am hoping I am wrong" the Sea God said.

**"What? How did you-"**

**"It's a trap!" Grover said. "It's the reason no satyr has ever returned from this quest. He's a shepherd, Percy! And he has it. Its nature magic is so powerful it smells just like the great god Pan! The satyrs come here thinking they've found Pan, and they get trapped and eaten by Polyphemus!"**

"Oh!" Athena said.

"The cyclopes?" Zeus asked.

Athena nodded.

"The same one Odysseus beat" Athena beamed.

"They have to go to his island?" Zeus asked.

Percy J. and Annabeth C. nodded.

"This is going to be a fantastic book" Poseidon and Athena grumbled.

**"Poly-who?"**

**"The Cyclops!" Grover said, exasperated. "I almost got away. I made it all the way to St. Augustine."**

**"But he followed you," I said, remembering my first dream. "And trapped you in a bridal boutique."**

**"That's right," Grover said. "My first empathy link must've worked then. Look, this bridal dress is the only thing keeping me alive. He thinks I smell good, but I told him it was just goat-scented perfume. Thank goodness he can't see very well. His eye is still half blind from the last time somebody poked it out. **

"Odysseus this time...not Hercules" Athena said.

"Odysseus wasn't even a demigod!" Poseidon said.

"That's what makes his journey even more of an epic" Athena said.

**But soon he'll realize what I am. He's only giving me two weeks to finish the bridal train, and he's getting impatient!"**

**"Wait a minute. This Cyclops thinks you're-"**

**"Yes!" Grover wailed. "He thinks I'm a lady Cyclops and he wants to marry me!"**

**Under different circumstances, I might've busted out laughing, but Grover's voice was deadly serious. He was shaking with fear.**

"I would still laugh" Travis smiled.

**"I'll come rescue you," I promised. "Where are you?"**

**"The Sea of Monsters, of course!"**

**"The sea of what?"**

**"I told you! I don't know exactly where! And look, Percy … urn, I'm really sorry about this, but this empathy link … well, I had no choice. Our emotions are connected now. If I die …"**

**"Don't tell me, I'll die too."**

"What?" Poseidon asked.

"Nothing important to mention when you make the link" Jason said.

**"Oh, well, perhaps not. You might live for years in a vegetative state. But, uh, it would be a lot better if you got me out of here."**

**"Honeypie!" the monster bellowed. "Dinnertime! Yummy yummy sheep meat!"**

**Grover whimpered. "I have to go. Hurry!"**

**"Wait! You said 'it' was here. What?"**

**But Grover's voice was already growing fainter. "Sweet dreams. Don't let me die!"**

"Sweet dreams don't let me die? Nice sign off" Connor noted.

**he dream faded and I woke with a start. It was early morning. Tyson was staring down at me, his one big brown eye full of concern.**

**"Are you okay?" he asked.**

**His voice sent a chill down my back, because he sounded almost exactly like the monster I'd heard in my dream.**

**The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Millions of birds were roosting in the trees-fat gray-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded me of submarine radar.**

"I hate pigeons" Connor said and the future demigods from Camp Half Blood nodded.

**The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Hephaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they'd had their heads smashed in, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes.**

Hephaestus smiled.

"Now they're cool!" Jason smiled at Leo.

Everyone laughed.

**There were rows of stone steps for the spectators- Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock.**

"I see no point" Dionysus said.

**"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate eclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"**

"What kind of punishment is that?" Jason asked.

"The s'mores are to good" Connor said and everyone laughed.

**Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. **

Bekendorf sat even straighter.

**They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron-even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. I had no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati.**

Bekendorf smiled wickedly.

**The Ares chariot was bloodred, and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.**

It was Clarisse's turn to smile wickedly.

**Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.**

Lee, Will and Michael cheered with Apollo.

"Apollo cabin!"

**Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and I shuddered to think what dirty tricks they'd schemed up.**

Connor and Travis's looks were looks of pure mischief.

**That left two chariots: one driven by Annabeth, and the other by me.**

"Mine was better!" Percy J. said.

"What ever helps you sleep at night Seaweed Brain" Annabeth C. joked.

**Before the race began, I tried to approach Annabeth and tell her about my dream.**

**She perked up when I mentioned Grover, but when I told her what he'd said, she seemed to get distant again, suspicious.**

**"You're trying to distract me," she decided.**

**"What? No I'm not!"**

**"Oh, right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp."**

"He did though" Annabeth C. said.

**"What do you mean?"**

**She rolled her eyes. "Go back to your chariot, Percy."**

**"I'm not making this up. He's in trouble, Annabeth."**

**She hesitated. I could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to trust me. Despite our occasional fights, we'd been through a lot together. And I knew she would never want anything bad to happen to Grover.**

**"Percy, an empathy link is so hard to do. I mean, it's more likely you really were dreaming."**

**"The Oracle," I said. "We could consult the Oracle."**

"I'm a better Oracle" Rachel said.

"Totally!" Annabeth C. nodded.

**Annabeth frowned.**

**Last summer, before my quest, I'd visited the strange spirit that lived in the Big House attic and it had given me a prophecy that came true in ways I'd never expected. The experience had freaked me out for months. Annabeth knew I'd never suggest going back there if I wasn't completely serious.**

**Before she could answer, the conch horn sounded.**

**"Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!"**

**"We'll talk later," Annabeth told me, "after I win."**

"Nice" Thalia said.

**As I was walking back to my own chariot, I noticed how many more pigeons were in the trees now-screeching like crazy, making the whole forest rustle. Nobody else seemed to be paying them much attention, but they made me nervous. Their beaks glinted strangely. Their eyes seemed shinier than regular birds.**

"Trouble" Poseidon said.

**Tyson was having trouble getting our horses under control. I had to talk to them a long time before they would settle down.**

**He's a monster, lord! they complained to me.**

**He's a son of Poseidon, I told them. Just like … well, just like me.**

**No! they insisted. Monster! Horse-eater! Not trusted!**

**I'll give you sugar cubes at the end of the race, I said.**

**Sugar cubes?**

"Bribery! Works every time!" Hermes said.

**Very big sugar cubes. And apples. Did I mention the apples?**

"Great job!" Hermes said.

**Finally they agreed to let me harness them.**

**Now, if you've never seen a Greek chariot, it's built for speed, not safety or comfort. It's basically a wooden basket, open at the back, mounted on an axle between two wheels. The driver stands up the whole time, and you can feel every bump in the road. The carriage is made of such light wood that if you wipe out making the hairpin turns at either end of the track, you'll probably tip over and crush both the chariot and yourself. It's an even better rush than skateboarding.**

"You skateboard?" Annabeth C. as Percy J.

"We haven't seen him...just like we haven't seen him play basketball" Thalai said.

**I took the reins and maneuvered the chariot to the starting line. I gave Tyson a ten-foot pole and told him that his job was to push the other chariots away if they got too close, and to deflect anything they might try to throw at us.**

**"No hitting ponies with the stick," he insisted.**

**"No," I agreed. "Or people, either, if you can help it. We're going to run a clean race. Just keep the distractions away and let me concentrate on driving."**

**"We will win.'" He beamed.**

**We are so going to lose, I thought to myself, but I bad to try. I wanted to show the others … well, I wasn't sure what, exactly. That Tyson wasn't such a bad guy? That I wasn't ashamed of being seen with him in public? Maybe that they hadn't hurt me with all their jokes and name-calling?**

**As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Tantalus didn't look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.**

**"Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!"**

**He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered.**

**Almost immediately there was a loud nasty crack! I looked back in time to see the Apollo chariot flip over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it-maybe by mistake, maybe not. **

"Purpose" the Stolls said and Apollo and his sons glared at them.

**The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. The Hermes team, Travis and Connor Stoll, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust.**

This time Apollo and his kids smirked at Hermes and his kids.

"Yeah yeah yeah" Hermes said.

**Two chariots down in the first twenty feet. I loved this sport.**

Everyone laughed.

**I turned my attention back to the front. We were making good time, pulling ahead of Ares, but Annabeth's chariot was way ahead of us. She was already making her turn around the first post, her javelin man grinning and waving at us, shouting: "See ya!"**

"I love Malcolm" Annabeth C. smiled.

"Not as much as me right?" Percy J. said.

"Yeah" Annabeth C. said.

Percy pouted.

"Kidding" she said and kissed him.

**The Hephaestus chariot was starting to gain on us, too.**

**Beckendorf pressed a button, and a panel slid open on the side of his chariot.**

**"Sorry, Percy!" he yelled. Three sets of balls and chains shot straight toward our wheels. They would've wrecked us completely if Tyson hadn't whacked them aside with a quick swipe of his pole. He gave the Hephaestus chariot a good shove and sent them skittering sideways while we pulled ahead.**

"Woooooo" Poseidon said.

Hephaestus glared at him.

**"Nice work, Tyson!" I yelled.**

**"Birds!" he cried.**

**"What?"**

**We were whipping along so fast it was hard to hear or see anything, but Tyson pointed toward the woods and I saw what he was worried about. The pigeons had risen from the trees. They were spiraling like a huge tornado, heading toward the track.**

**No big deal, I told myself. They're just pigeons.**

"I wish" Clarisse said.

**I tried to concentrate on the race.**

**We made our first turn, the wheels creaking under us, the chariot threatening to tip, but we were now only ten feet behind Annabeth. If I could just get a little closer, Tyson could use his pole….**

**Annabeth's fighter wasn't smiling now. He pulled a javelin from his collection and took aim at me. He was about to throw when we heard the screaming.**

**The pigeons were swarming-thousands of them dive-bombing the spectators in the stands, attacking the other chariots. Beckendorf was mobbed. His fighter tried to bat the birds away but he couldn't see anything. The chariot veered off course and plowed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.**

Hephaestus shook his head.

**In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at the fighter's hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. Her skeletal horses seemed immune to the distraction. The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eye sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running.**

"Ares cabin!" Ares and Clarisse yelled.

**The spectators weren't so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren't normal pigeons. Their eyes were beady and evil-looking. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the yelps of the campers, they must've been razor sharp.**

**"Stymphalian birds!" Annabeth yelled. She slowed down and pulled her chariot alongside mine. "They'll strip everyone to bones if we don't drive them away!"**

**"Tyson," I said, "we're turning around!"**

**"Going the wrong way?" he asked.**

**"Always," I grumbled, but I steered the chariot toward the stands.**

**Annabeth rode right next to me. She shouted, "Heroes, to arms!" But I wasn't sure anyone could hear her over the screeching of the birds and the general chaos.**

"We couldn't" Chris said.

**I held my reins in one hand and managed to draw Riptide as a wave of birds dived at my face, their metal beaks snapping. I slashed them out of the air and they exploded into dust and feathers, but there were still millions of them left. One nailed me in the back end and I almost jumped straight out of the chariot.**

Everyone laughed.

**Annabeth wasn't having much better luck. The closer we got to the stands, the thicker the cloud of birds became.**

**Some of the spectators were trying to fight back. The Athena campers were calling for shields. The archers from Apollo's cabin brought out their bows and arrows, ready to slay the menace, but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn't safe to shoot.**

"Not good" Apollo said.

**"Too many!" I yelled to Annabeth. "How do you get rid of them?"**

**She stabbed at a pigeon with her knife. "Hercules used noise! Brass bells! He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could-"**

**Her eyes got wide. "Percy … Chiron's collection!"**

"My music is not terrible" Chiron said.

A few demigods coughed.

**I understood instantly. "You think it'll work?"**

**She handed her fighter the reins and leaped from her chariot into mine like it was the easiest thing in the world. "To the Big House! It's our only chance!"**

**Clarisse has just pulled across the finish line, completely unopposed, and seemed to notice for the first time how serious the bird problem was.**

**When she saw us driving away, she yelled, "You're running? The fight is here, cowards!" She drew her sword and charged for the stands.**

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**I urged our horses into a gallop. The chariot rumbled through the strawberry fields, across the volleyball pit, and lurched to a halt in front of the Big House. Annabeth and I ran inside, tearing down the hallway to Chiron's apartment.**

**His boom box was still on his nightstand. So were his favorite CDs. I grabbed the most repulsive one I could find, Annabeth snatched the boom box, and together we ran back outside.**

**Down at the track, the chariots were in flames. Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shredding their clothes and pulling out their hair, while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in a while yelling, "Everything's under control! Not to worry.'"**

"He's so stupid" Nico said.

"I get the go chase a doughnut now!" Apollo said and laughed.

**We pulled up to the finish line. Annabeth got the boom box ready. I prayed the batteries weren't dead.**

**I pressed PLAY and started up Chiron's favorite-the All-Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin. Suddenly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian.**

**The demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out. Then they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave.**

**"Now!" shouted Annabeth. "Archers!"**

**With clear targets, Apollo's archers had flawless aim. Most of them could nock five or six arrows at once. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.**

**The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. The kids from Aphrodite's cabin were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.**

Aphrodite cringed.

**"Bravo!" Tantalus said, but he wasn't looking at me or Annabeth. "We have our first winner!" He walked to "He finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned-looking Clarisse.**

"What?!" Thalia yelled as Ares cheered.

**Then he turned and smiled at me. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."**

"You're fudging kidding me right?" Nico asked.

"Who's next?" Hazel asked and Frank took the book.

* * *

**i hope you like it...i tried to add the fluff...:)**

**thanks to all the people who agree with me abour riordan...he kills nico and we assemble and army go to San Antonio and find him and force him to rewrite it!**

**Power to the Nico/Thalico/Hades fans!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	8. I Accept Gifts From a Stranger

**i don't think im doing any reviewer answers today cause im lazy! lol/...but there is a new challenge**

**this one is for all the people who have seen the movie:)**

**What song was playing while Percy, Annabeth(who should've had blonde hair btw), and Grover wasin Lotus Casino?**

**people who get it right get the next chapter:)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"I accept gifts from a stranger,"** Frank read.

"Haven't I taught you anything Perseus Jackson?" Sally said "Don't talk to strangers!"

"Mom" Percy J. whined.

**The way Tantalus saw it, the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods and would not have attacked if Annabeth, Tyson, and I hadn't disturbed them with our bad chariot driving.**

"What the Hades?" Poseidon said "that's completely unfair!"

**This was so completely unfair, **

"Like father like son" Athena smiled.

**I told Tantalus to go chase a doughnut,**

Everyone laughed.

"Nice!" Hermes high fived Percy J. before his phone went off.

"I was kinda hoping that the minor gods wouldn't need me while we read" Hermes said "but no...the Muses need more pegasus tail hair for their bows!"

Hermes poofed out of the room to get the horse hair.

**which didn't help his mood. **

**He sentenced us to kitchen patrol-scrubbing pots and platters all afternoon in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies. The harpies washed with lava instead of water, to get that extra-clean sparkle and kill ninety-nine point nine percent of all germs, so Annabeth and I had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons.**

**Tyson didn't mind. He plunged his bare hands right in and started scrubbing, but Annabeth and I had to suffer through hours of hot, dangerous work, especially since there were tons of extra plates. Tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory-a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird.**

"I don't think that would taste good" Aphrodite said.

"It was actually pretty good" Percy said coming out of his own little world filled with Annabeth's hair.

"I feel like you haven't been paying attention most of the time" Nico said.

"I'm not because I've been through this stuff" Percy said "And Annabeth's not paying attention either cause she's been through it all with me."

**The only good thing about our punishment was that it gave Annabeth and me a common enemy and lots of time to talk. After listening to my dream about Grover again, she looked like she might be starting to believe me.**

**"If he's really found it," she murmured, "and if we could retrieve it-"**

**"Hold on," I said. "You act like this … whatever-it-is Grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. What is it?"**

**"I'll give you a hint. What do you get when you skin a ram?"**

**"Messy?"**

A few people face palmed.

"It's me!" Percy and Percy J. shouted.

"This is true" Thalia and Nico said.

**She sighed. "A fleece. The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool-"**

**"The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?"**

"No she's Annie" Leo said.

Annabeth threw her arms up.

"Why does everyone call me Annie?" she asked.

"Because they want to...Annie" Percy chuckled and Annabeth hit him, lightly.

"Kidding! Jeesh!" Percy said and put his arm around her so she could snuggle closer to him and lay her head on his chest.

Percy kissed her head.

"You guys are so cute together!" Aphrodite, Piper, and Silena squeled.

Jason and Leo looked at Piper.

"Aphrodite genes" Piper said.

**Annabeth scrapped a plateful of death-bird bones into the lava. "Percy, remember the Gray Sisters? They said they knew the location of the thing you seek. And they mentioned Jason. Three thousand years ago, they told him how to find the Golden Fleece. You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts?"**

**"Yeah," I said. "That old movie with the clay skeletons."**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless."**

A few peopel shook their heads.

"That's all I knew!" Percy said "in full honesty I knew nothing about the first Jason!"

**"Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."**

A few people laughed.

"It was important to her" Thalia and Nico said and looked at each other weird.

**"It was probably important to her."**

"You guys think like me!" Percy said 'me' like a kid would.

Thalia and Nico looked scared.

**"The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution-"**

Grover and Artemis looked up.

"It can?" they asked.

**"It could cure Thalia's tree."**

"Thanks" Thalia smiled.

**Annabeth nodded. "And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."**

**"But Grover found it," I said. "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"**

**Annabeth hesitated. "A little too perfect, don't you think? What if it's a trap?"**

"It's always a trap" Hazel said.

**I remembered last summer, how Kronos had manipulated our quest. He'd almost fooled us into helping him start a war that would've destroyed Western Civilization.**

**"What choice do we have?" I asked. "Are you going to help me rescue Grover or not?"**

**She glanced at Tyson, who'd lost interest in our conversation and was happily making toy boats out of cups and spoons in the lava.**

A few girls cooed.

"He's like a small child!" Hera said.

"How cute!" Persephone said.

**"Percy," she said under her breath, "we'll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there's only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters."**

**"Where's that?"**

"That's what I'm wondering!" Connor said.

**She stared at me like she thought I was playing dumb. "The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas, and all the others."**

"And all the others?" Chris asked.

"There's a lot of them!" Annabeth said.

Annabeth C. and Percy J. had fallen asleep again, they really were exhausted.

**"You mean the Mediterranean?"**

**"No. Well, yes … but no."**

**"Another straight answer. Thanks."**

"I hate when she doesn't give me a straight answer" Percy grumbled and everyone laughed.

**"Look, Percy, the Sea of Monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. It used to be in the Mediterranean, yes. But like everything else, it shifts locations as the West's center of power shifts."**

**"Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State Building," I said. "And Hades being under Los Angeles."**

**"Right."**

**"But a whole sea full of monsters-how could you hide something like that? Wouldn't the mortals notice weird things happening … like, ships getting eaten and stuff?"**

**"Of course they notice. They don't understand, but they know something is strange about that part of the ocean. The Sea of Monsters is off the east coast of the U.S. now, just northeast of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it."**

**"The Bermuda Triangle?"**

"Makes sense it would be there" Leo said and a few peple nodded in agreement.

**"Exactly."**

**I let that sink in. I guess it wasn't stranger than anything else I'd learned since coming to Camp Half-Blood. "Okay … so at least we know where to look."**

**"It's still a huge area, Percy. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters-"**

**"Hey, I'm the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?"**

A few people laughed.

"Home turff?" Thalai asked.

"I can't say anything...when it comes to the Underworld I know where EVERYTHING is" Nico said.

"Yeah...where the screaming comes from is the Feilds of Punishment the smell of barbecue is Elysium, the field with thousands of ghosts floating around is Asphodel, the dark never ending pit is Tarturas, the dark spooky palace is Hades place, the water with a bunch of human stuff in it is the Styx, and the big three headed dog is guarding the entrance" thalia said "not hard."

"Where's the River Lethe? Persephone's garden? Melione's cave? The Doors of Death?" Nico shot back.

thalia opened her mouth but closed it again.

"Exactly...home turff" Nico said and everyone laughed.

**Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "We'll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He'll say no."**

**"Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse."**

"Nice" Athena said.

**"Maybe." A little bit of hope crept into Annabeth's voice. "We'd better get these dishes done. Hand me the lava spray gun, will you?"**

"You don't hear that anytime you do dishes" Leo said.

**That night at the campfire, Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. They tried to get everybody's spirits up, but it wasn't easy after that afternoon's bird attack. We all sat around a semicircle of stone steps, singing halfheartedly and watching the bonfire blaze while the Apollo guys strummed their guitars and picked their lyres.**

**We did all the standard camp numbers: "Down by the Aegean," "I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa," "This Land is Minos's Land." The bonfire was enchanted, so the louder you sang, the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the crowd. On a good night, I'd seen it twenty feet high, bright purple, and so hot the whole front row's marshmallows burst into the flames. Tonight, the fire was only five feet high, barely warm, and the flames were the color of lint.**

"Not very good spirits" Apollo noted.

**Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House.**

"Even Dionysus doesn't like him!" Hermes said coming back in with his caduceus in staff form.

**When the last song was over, Tantalus said, "Well, that was lovely!"**

**He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, real casual-like. But before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames.**

Everyone laughed.

**Tantalus turned back toward us, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."**

**"Sir," I said.**

**Tantalus's eye twitched. "Our kitchen boy has something to say?"**

Poseidon glared at the book.

**Some of the Ares campers snickered, but I wasn't going to let anybody embarrass me into silence. I stood and looked at Annabeth. Thank the gods, she stood up with me.**

**I said, "We have an idea to save the camp."**

**Dead silence, but I could tell I'd gotten everybody's interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow.**

"Anything to save our home" Travis said.

"Damn right!" Connor said.

**"Indeed," Tantalus said blandly. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots-"**

**"The Golden Fleece," I said. "We know where it is."**

**The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop me, I blurted out my dream about Grover and Polyphemus's island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.**

"Course it does" Annabeth said.

**"The Fleece can save the camp," she concluded. "I'm certain of it."**

**"Nonsense," said Tantalus. "We don't need saving."**

"You're kidding right?" Chris asked.

**Everybody stared at him until Tantalus started looking uncomfortable.**

**"Besides," he added quickly, "the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."**

**"Yes, I would," I said.**

**Annabeth leaned toward me and whispered, "You would?"**

"Thanks for beliving in me" Percy said.

"You didn't tell me where" Annabeth kissed Percy and he kissed her back.

**I nodded, because Annabeth had jogged something in my memory when she reminded me about our taxi drive with the Gray Sisters. At the time, the information they'd given me made no sense. But now …**

**"30, 31, 75, 12," I said.**

**"Ooo-kay," Tantalus said. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."**

**"They're sailing coordinates," I said. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."**

Thalia and Nico gasped.

"What now?!" Percy asked.

"You learned something?" they asked.

Everyone laughed as Percy glared at them.

**Even Annabeth looked impressed. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"**

**"Wait just a minute," Tantalus said.**

**But the campers took up the chant. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"**

**The flames rose higher.**

**"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.**

**"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"**

**"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"**

**"YES!"**

**"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."**

"Who's he going to choose?" Leo asked.

"Percy and Percy's gonna choose Annabeth and Tyson to go with him...duh!" Thalia said.

**My heart filled with excitement. I wasn't going to let Tantalus scare me. This was what I needed to do. I was going to save Grover and the camp. Nothing would stop me.**

**"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."**

"Yeah...they're in front of you!" Nico said.

**Tantalus looked at Annabeth and me as if he wanted to flay us alive. "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest … Clarisse!"**

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled.

"Tyson beat the bulls on the hill!" Thalia yelled.

"It was Percy and Annabeth who did the most to get rid of the birds!" Nico argued.

"SHUT UP YOU WHINY BRATS! GIVE MY DAUGHTER A CHANCE TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT INSTEAD OF THE STUPID SON OF KELP-FOR-BREATH!" Ares yelled.

Thalia and Nico didn't even flinch but glared back at the god of war.

Poseidon looked downright murderous.

"ARES!" Hera screached before anyone could say anything else.

Ares flinched.

"You do NOT yell at children!" the Queen of Gods said "room...now!"

"But..." Ares said.

"NOW!" Hera said.

"Yes m'am" Ares said and poofed out of the room.

**The fire flickered a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"**

**Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. "I accept the quest!"**

**"Wait!" I shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."**

**"Sit down!" yelled one of the Ares campers. "You had your chance last summer!"**

**"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another said.**

"Percy's the best choice" Nico said.

**Clarisse glared at me. "I accept the quest!" she repeated. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"**

**The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everybody else started taking sides-shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows.**

"Who was on who's side?" Hermes asked.

"Uh...Athena, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite, Demeter and Hephaestus was rooting for us" Annabeth said.

"The oher cabins rooted for Clarisse" Percy said.

**I thought it was going to turn into a full-fledged s'more war until Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!"**

**His tone stunned even me.**

**"Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."**

**I didn't know what he was up to, but we all moved reluctantly back to our seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong as any monster I'd ever faced.**

**"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and I got the feeling he was talking about himself.**

"Pfft" the Gods said.

**"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. **

"We invited all the kings of Greece" Zeus said.

**But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe-just one little doggie bag, mind you-the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children-just-like- you."**

**He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including me.**

**"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"**

"That's gross" Piper said.

"Hera was ready to send him to Hades then and give him a much worse torturement" Zeus said.

Hera was still mad.

"I give children to people so they can cherish them and love them...not kill them and cook them in a stew then feed it to the gods!" Hera said coldly.

**No one dared answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus's crooked face.**

**"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so … are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"**

**Silence.**

**Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."**

**She shifted uncomfortably, like even she didn't want glory at the price of being Tantalus's pet. "Sir-"**

**"Go!" he snarled.**

**She bowed awkwardly and hurried off toward the Big House.**

**"What about you, Percy Jackson?" Tantalus asked. "No comments from our dishwasher?"**

Poseidon growled this time.

**I didn't say anything. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of punishing me again.**

**"Good," Tantalus said. "And let me remind everyone- no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries … well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, **

"Not if their all powerful immortal parents have anything to say about it" Posedion said.

**but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."**

**With a wave of Tantalus's hand, the fire was extinguished, and the campers trailed off toward their cabins in the dark.**

**I couldn't explain things to Tyson. He knew I was sad. He knew I wanted to go on a trip and Tantalus wouldn't let me.**

**"You will go anyway?" he asked.**

**"I don't know," I admitted. "It would be hard. Very hard."**

**"I will help."**

**"No. I-uh, I couldn't ask you to do that, big guy. Too dangerous."**

**Tyson looked down at the pieces of metal he was assembling in his lap-springs and gears and tiny wires. Beckendorf had given him some tools and spare parts, and now Tyson spent every night tinkering, though I wasn't sure how his huge hands could handle such delicate little pieces.**

**"What are you building?" I asked.**

**Tyson didn't answer. Instead he made a whimpering sound in the back of his throat. "Annabeth doesn't like Cyclopes. You … don't want me along?"**

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" the girls all cooed sadly.

Tyson blushed.

**"Oh, that's not it," I said halfheartedly. "Annabeth likes you. Really."**

**He had tears in the corners of his eye.**

All the girls had tears in their eyes, except for Clarisse.

**I remembered that Grover, like all satyrs, could read human emotions. I wondered if Cyclopes had the same ability.**

"I don't know" Grover said "they can mimick voices though."

Thalia, Annabeth and Luke's faces grew dark.

"Yeah."

**Tyson folded up his tinkering project in an oilcloth. He lay down on his bunk bed and hugged his bundle like a teddy bear. When he turned toward the wall, I could see the weird scars on his back, like somebody had plowed over him with a tractor. I wondered for the millionth time how he'd gotten hurt.**

**"Daddy always cared for m-me," he sniffled. "Now … I think he was mean to have a Cyclops boy. I should not have been born."**

**"Don't talk that way! Poseidon claimed you, didn't he? So … he must care about you … a lot…."**

Poseidon smiled at Percy, who was again playing with Annabeth's hair.

**My voice trailed off as I thought about all those years Tyson had lived on the streets of New York in a cardboard refrigerator box. How could Tyson think that Poseidon had cared for him? What kind of dad let that happen to his kid, even if his kid was a monster?**

Poseidon looked down ashamed.

**"Tyson … camp will be a good home for you. The others will get used to you. I promise."**

**Tyson sighed. I waited for him to say something. Then I realized he was already asleep.**

**I lay back on my bed and tried to close my eyes, but I just couldn't. I was afraid I might have another dream about Grover. If the empathy link was real … if something happened to Grover … would I ever wake up?**

"You might wanna stop saying things like that Perseus" Hephaestus said pointing to Poseidon who looked quite pale.

Percy glanced up at the sound of his name but then went back to braiding.

**The full moon shone through my window. The sound of the surf rumbled in the distance. I could smell the warm scent of the strawberry fields, and hear the laughter of the dryads as they chased owls through the forest. But something felt wrong about the night-the sickness of Thalia's tree, spreading across the valley.**

**Could Clarisse save Half-Blood Hill? I thought the odds were better of me getting a "Best Camper" award from Tantalus.**

"You'd get best camper award from Chiron" Annabeth said but Percy didn't respnd, he was still amazed by his girlfriend's hair.

"Percy!" Annabeth said and Percy droppped the peice he was braiding.

"Huh?"

Everyone laughed.

**I got out of bed and pulled on some clothes. I grabbed a beach blanket and a six-pack of Coke from under my bunk. The Cokes were against the rules. No outside snacks or drinks were allowed, but if you talked to the right guy in Hermes's cabin and paid him a few golden drachma, he could smuggle in almost anything from the nearest convenience store.**

"Us" the Stolls said.

"I love how Chiron doesn't say anything" Athena said.

"I can't stop them" Chiron shrugged.

**Sneaking out after curfew was against the rules, too. If I got caught I'd either get in big trouble or be eaten by the harpies. But I wanted to see the ocean. I always felt better there. My thoughts were clearer. I left the cabin and headed for the beach.**

**I spread my blanket near the surf and popped open a Coke. For some reason sugar and caffeine always calmed down my hyperactive brain. I tried to decide what to do to save the camp, but nothing came to me. I wished Poseidon would talk to me, give me some advice or something.**

**The sky was clear and starry. I was checking out the constellations Annabeth had taught me-Sagittarius, Hercules, Corona Borealis-when somebody said, "Beautiful, aren't they?"**

**I almost spewed soda.**

Everyone laughed.

**Standing right next to me was a guy in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and a sly smile. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't figure out why.**

"What am I doing there?" Hermes asked.

**My first thought was that he must've been taking a midnight jog down the beach and strayed inside the camp borders. That wasn't supposed to happen. Regular mortals couldn't enter the valley. But maybe with the tree's magic weakening he'd managed to slip in. But in the middle of the night? And there was nothing around except farmland and state preserves. Where would this guy have jogged from?**

**"May I join you?" he asked. "I haven't sat down in ages."**

**Now, I know-a strange guy in the middle of the night. Common sense: I was supposed to run away, yell for help, etc. But the guy acted so calm about the whole thing that I found it hard to be afraid.**

**I said, "Uh, sure."**

**He smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?"**

**He sat at the other end of the blanket, popped a soda and took a drink. "Ah … that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at-"**

"It's never quiet for you" Artemis said, talking to Hermes for the first time.

"No" Hermes answered.

**A cell phone went off in his pocket.**

"Peace and quiet my ass" Hermes said.

"Hermes!" Hestia scolded!

"Sorry Aunt Hestia" Hermes said.

**The jogger sighed. He pulled out his phone and my eyes got big, because it glowed with a bluish light. When he extended the antenna, two creatures began writhing around it-green snakes, no bigger than earthworms.**

**The jogger didn't seem to notice. He checked his LCD display and cursed. "I've got to take this. Just a sec …" Then into the phone: "Hello?"**

**He listened. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear.**

**"Yeah," the jogger said. "Listen-I know, but… I don't care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver, if he doesn't have a tracking number, we can't locate his package…. A gift to humankind, great… You know how many of those we deliver-Oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Eris in customer service. I gotta go."**

**He hung up. "Sorry. The overnight express business is just booming. Now, as I was saying-"**

**"You have snakes on your phone."**

"Yup" Hermes said.

George and Martha slithered on the caduceus.

**"What? Oh, they don't bite. Say hello, George and Martha."**

**Hello, George and Martha, a raspy male voice said inside my head.**

**Don't be sarcastic, said a female voice.**

**Why not? George demanded. I do all the real work.**

_"I do" _George said.

**"Oh, let's not go into that again!" The jogger slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Now, where were we … Ah, yes. Peace and quiet."**

**He crossed his ankles and stared up at the stars. "Been a long time since I've gotten to relax. Ever since the telegraph-rush, rush, rush. Do you have a favorite constellation, Percy?"**

**I was still kind of wondering about the little green snakes he'd shoved into his jogging shorts, but I said, "Uh, I like Hercules."**

"He's a jerk though" Percy said and Percy J. nodded after waking up.

"Why are you two so tired?" Annabeth asked.

"We were falling into Tarturas when we got poofed here" Percy said but then soon realized that he shouldn't say anything about the future.

"HUH?" Athena, Poseidon, Annabeth and Percy all asked worried.

"Hehe" Percy J. said "that wasn't supposed to slip out...ignore that!"

The 4 people still looked worried.

**"Why?"**

**"Well … because he had rotten luck. Even worse than mine. It makes me feel better."**

"You really are different Perseus" Artemis said.

**The jogger chuckled. "Not because he was strong and famous and all that?"**

**"No."**

**"You're an interesting young man. And so, what now?"**

**I knew immediately what he was asking. What did I intend to do about the Fleece?**

**Before I could answer, Martha the snake's muffled voice came from his pocket: I have Demeter on line two.**

**"Not now," the jogger said. "Tell her to leave a message."**

Demeter looked at Hermes.

"Busy!" Hermes shouted.

**She's not going to like that. The last time you put her off, all the flowers in the floral delivery division wilted.**

**"Just tell her I'm in a meeting!" The jogger rolled his eyes. "Sorry again, Percy. You were saying …"**

**"Um … who are you, exactly?"**

**"Haven't you guessed by now, a smart boy like you?"**

"Smart?" Nico and Thalia asked.

Percy pouted.

"Percy's smart when he's listening to me" Annabeth said and kissed her boyfriend.

**Show him! Martha pleaded. I haven't been full-size for months.**

**Don't listen to her! George said. She just wants to show off!**

**The man took out his phone again. "Original form, please."**

**The phone glowed a brilliant blue. It stretched into a three-foot-long wooden staff with dove wings sprouting out the top. George and Martha, now full-sized green snakes, coiled together around the middle. It was a caduceus, the symbol of Cabin Eleven.**

"Whooooooooooooooooooooo! Cabin 11! Hermes!" Hermes and his kids yelled.

**My throat tightened. I realized who the jogger reminded me of with his elfish features, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes….**

**"You're Luke's father," I said. "Hermes."**

"Not the first name people use" Hermes said.

**The god pursed his lips. He stuck his caduceus in the sand like an umbrella pole. "'Luke's father.' Normally, that's not the first way people introduce me. God of thieves, yes. God of messengers and travelers, if they wish to be kind."**

**God of thieves works, George said.**

**Oh, don't mind George. Martha flicked her tongue at me. He's just bitter because Hermes likes me best.**

**He does not!**

**Does too!**

The said snakes continued the argument around the real caduceus.

"Ugh!" Hermes said.

**"Behave, you two," Hermes warned, "or I'll turn you back into a cell phone and set you on vibrate! Now, Percy, you still haven't answered my question. What do you intend to do about the quest?"**

**"I-I don't have permission to go."**

**"No, indeed. Will that stop you?"**

**"I want to go. I have to save Grover."**

"Loyal" Annabeth smiled and held her boyfriend's hand.

**Hermes smiled. "I knew a boy once … oh, younger than you by far. A mere baby, really."**

**Here we go again, George said. Always talking about himself**

**Quiet! Martha snapped. Do you want to get set on vibrate?**

A few people laughed.

"It sounds like Martha listens to you more than George" Leo said.

"She does" Hermes answered "Which is why I like her best."

**Hermes ignored them. "One night, when this boy's mother wasn't watching, he sneaked out of their cave and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollo."**

Hermes smiled sheepishly.

**"Did he get blasted to tiny pieces?" I asked.**

**"Hmm … no. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollo an instrument he'd invented-a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry."**

"I do love my lyre" Apollo said.

**"So what's the moral?"**

**"The moral?" Hermes asked. "Goodness, you act like it's a fable. It's a true story. Does truth have a moral?"**

**"Um …"**

**"How about this: stealing is not always bad?"**

**"I don't think my mom would like that moral."**

Sally nodded as everyone else laughed.

**Rats are delicious, suggested George.**

**What does that have to do with the story? Martha demanded.**

**Nothing, George said. But I'm hungry.**

**"I've got it," Hermes said. "Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. How's that?"**

"Sounds good" the Stolls said in unision.

**"You're saying I should go anyway," I said, "even without permission."**

**Hermes's eyes twinkled. "Martha, may I have the first package, please?"**

**Martha opened her mouth … and kept opening it until it was as wide as my arm. She belched out a stainless steel canister-an old-fashioned lunch box thermos with a black plastic top. The sides of the thermos were enameled with red and yellow Ancient Greek scenes-a hero killing a lion; a hero lifting up Cerberus, the three-headed dog.**

**"That's Hercules," I said. "But how-"**

**"Never question a gift," Hermes chided. "This is a collector's item from Hercules Busts Heads. The first season."**

"That was a jolly god show!" Apollo said in a fake British accent.

His kids shook their heads laughing as everyone laughed.

**"Hercules Busts Heads?"**

**"Great show." Hermes sighed. "Back before Hephaestus-TV was all reality programming. Of course, the thermos would be worth much more if I had the whole lunch box-"**

**Or if it hadn't been in Martha's mouth, George added.**

**I'll get you for that. Martha began chasing him around the caduceus.**

The 2 snakes were chasing each other now.

"Hermes, I think your snakes are tangled" Leo said.

"Ah great!" Hermes replied and began to work through the huge knot.

**"Wait a minute," I said. "This is a gift?"**

**"One of two," Hermes said. "Go on, pick it up."**

**I almost dropped it because it was freezing cold on one side and burning hot on the other. The weird thing was, when I turned the thermos, the side facing the ocean- north-was always the cold side….**

**"It's a compass!" I said.**

"Nice" Athena said.

**Hermes looked surprised. "Very clever. I never thought of that. But its intended use is a bit more dramatic. Uncap it, and you will release the winds from the four corners of the earth to speed you on your way. Not now! And please, when the time comes, only unscrew the lid a tiny bit. The winds are a bit like me-always restless. Should all four escape at once … ah,**

Percy smirked and Annabeth shook her head.

**but I'm sure you'll be careful. And now my second gift. George?"**

**She's touching me, George complained as he and Martha slithered around the pole.**

**"She's always touching you," Hermes said. "You're intertwined. And if you don't stop that, you'll get knotted again!**

**The snakes stopped wrestling.**

**George unhinged his jaw and coughed up a little plastic bottle filled with chewable vitamins.**

"I'm glad you gave him those vitamins" Annabeth said.

"Why?" Will asked.

"You'll see" Annabeth said.

"Now Annabeth is torturing us with those two words!" Leo wailed and everyone laughed.

**"You're kidding," I said. "Are those Minotaur-shaped?"**

**Hermes picked up the bottle and rattled it. "The lemon ones, yes. The grape ones are Furies, I think. Or are they hydras? At any rate, these are potent. Don't take one unless you really, really need it."**

**"How will I know if I really, really need it?"**

**"You'll know, believe me. Nine essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids … oh, everything you need to feel yourself again."**

Annabeth and Percy chuckled.

"Yeah" Percy J and Annabeth C said.

**He tossed me the bottle.**

**"Um, thanks," I said. "But Lord Hermes, why are you helping me?"**

**He gave me a melancholy smile. "Perhaps because I hope that you can save many people on this quest, Percy. Not just your friend Grover."**

**I stared at him. "You don't mean … Luke?"**

**Hermes didn't answer.**

**"Look," I said. "Lord Hermes, I mean, thanks and everything, but you might as well take back your gifts. Luke can't be saved. Even if I could find him … he told me he wanted to tear down Olympus stone by stone. He betrayed everybody he knew. He-he hates you especially."**

Luke looked away from his father and Hermes looked down.

"These are going to be so awkward books" almost every demigod thought.

Hermes made a mental note to talk to Luke next break.

**Hermes gazed up at the stars. "My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet-"**

**"You invented the Internet?"**

"I love you!" almost everyone said.

**It was my idea, Martha said.**

**Rats are delicious, George said.**

**"It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the Internet, not the rats. But that's not the point. Percy, do you understand what I'm saying about family?"**

**"I-I'm not sure."**

**"You will some day." Hermes got up and brushed the sand off his legs. "In the meantime, I must be going."**

**You have sixty calls to return, Martha said.**

**And one thousand-thirty-eight e-mails, George added. Not counting the offers for online discount ambrosia.**

"That's a lot of e-mails" Lee said.

"Yeah" Hermes replied.

**"And you, Percy," Hermes said, "have a shorter deadline than you realize to complete your quest. Your friends should be coming right about … now."**

**I heard Annabeth's voice calling my name from the sand dunes. Tyson, too, was shouting from a little bit farther away.**

"How did Annabeth know you were out of your cabin?" Thalia asked.

"Tyson" Annabeth said.

**"I hope I packed well for you," Hermes said. "I do have some experience with travel."**

**He snapped his fingers and three yellow duffel bags appeared at my feet. "Waterproof, of course. If you ask nicely, your father should be able to help you reach the ship."**

**"Ship?"**

**Hermes pointed. Sure enough, a big cruise ship was cutting across Long Island Sound, its white-and-gold lights glowing against the dark water.**

A few demigods flinched knowing what ship that was.

**"Wait," I said. "I don't understand any of this. I haven't even agreed to go!"**

**"I'd make up your mind in the next five minutes, if I were you," Hermes advised. "That's when the harpies will come to eat you. Now, good night, cousin, and dare I say it? May the gods go with you."**

**He opened his hand and the caduceus flew into it.**

**Good luck, Martha told me.**

**Bring me back a rat, George said.**

"Did you?" Leo asked.

"No" Percy said.

"Poor George" Leo replied and everyone laughed.

**The caduceus changed into a cell phone and Hermes slipped it into his pocket.**

**He jogged off down the beach. Twenty paces away, he shimmered and vanished, leaving me alone with a thermos, a bottle of chewable vitamins, and five minutes to make an impossible decision.**

"Done!" Frank said.

"Can I read?" Bianca asked.

Frank passed the book to the Hunter.

* * *

**sorry it's been a while...:) no excuse just preoccupied with some other stuff.**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	9. We board The Princess Andromeda

**hey guys! sorry i haven't uploaded in so long:) ive been quite busy:)**

**Happy Easter btw! :D and for those of you on spring break! Happy spring break!**

**This chapter is dedicated to Percabeth226, kelseyPJHP1997, GeekyKiki, books33159, and tribute324. You 5 have answered the questiona nd some of you even said a second song that was played to...well done!**

**Im gonna have a lot of revieweer answers...**

**Divya. Daughter of Athena:**I live in TX! Come to my house first, we'll make a plan, then we'll attack  
**~You all heard that right? If Rick kills nico we meet up at her house! all right! Nico lovers go!:) i also love Thalico and i will be mad if i have no reason to believe in them cause one's dead!**

**NCISaddictionMcGeek:**Still funny. Gotta love the part where Percy was a little too occupied with braiding Annabeths hair. That was funny  
**~I'm glad you lie it:) i try to add small funnies in there somewhere;) oh and i HAVe to say! I love your name! i love NCIS! Dinnozzo's my fav though:)**

**Percabethlvrknowsall:**I loved the part where Hera sent Ares to his room. I couldn't stop laughing. LMAO  
**~I really don't like (no offense to anybody) Ares...he's a jerk:P that's why i did it:) i don't know when ill let him out...i might not soon though :)**

**Perseus Jackson** **rules:**I liked this chapter. It gave a small example of how Perseus can be clever. He came up with something not even Hermes could. How the thermos acted like a compass. I personally believe Perseus can be very clever and resourceful which is why Son of Neptune is my favorite in the series.  
Keep up the good work  
**~That was deep:) Perseus is very clever and loyal:) i think thts what we all love about him:)**

**SusieCJ:**I really like your stories. You update consistently and they're really funny and a good read, despite the few grammar and spelling mistakes :). Keep it up!  
Peace, Love and Monsters.  
Susie.  
**~I try to update when i can:) that was really nice:) i suck at grammar and spelling._. sorry *smiles sheepishly* i try to be funny...it's the thing i love about me and that im not afraid to be myself:) a lot of my stories reflect my mood/me so...sorry i babble too**

**Kireeofolympus:**I'm a loyal follower! I've read all if the stories I just haven't reviewed  
** ~i knwo you're a loyal reader and thank you so much:) i have seen you review quite a bit as well:)**

**TheBritishPercyJackson:**You have real talent, keep it up! I'm addicted to this series, just be careful of adding too many characters. It could be confusing for you and the readers! Ahaha but congrats! You've incorporated humour and romance very effectively! Well done and keep updating!  
**~thank you sooooo much:) i might add a few more MoA characters but...i added percy 2 and Annabeth 2 cause i had so many people ask for them so i was like...eh what the hey! thank you:) thats really sweet:)**

**That was a lot huh? I know right!**

**So one more thing, a few poeple wanna say hi to my readers:)**

**percy, nico, leo, travis, connor and tyson: hi!**

**Thats it...for now:)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"We board The Princess Andromeda,"** Bianca read.

A few people grimaced at the mention of _that _ship.

**I was staring at the waves when Annabeth and Tyson found me.**

**"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "I heard you calling for help!"**

**"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"**

A few people looked confused.

"Bad things are attacking?" Hera asked.

**"I didn't call you guys," I said. "I'm fine."**

**"But then who …" Annabeth noticed the three yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the bottle of vitamins I was holding. "What-"**

**"Just listen," I said. "We don't have much time."**

**I told them about my conversation with Hermes. By the time I was finished, I could hear screeching in the distance-patrol harpies picking up our scent.**

"Make a decision Kelp Head!" Thalia and Nico yelled and looked at each other.

"Why do we keep doing that?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know!" Nico said.

Everyone laughed.

**"Percy," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."**

**"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."**

"Yeah...we know" a lot of people said.

"Thanks guys" Percy said.

"You know we love you" Annabeth said and kissed her boyfriend.

**"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."**

**"Yeah, but you promised Chiron-"**

**"I promised I'd keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them-"**

**"I want to go," Tyson said.**

**"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean … Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."**

**I wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she wasn't telling me.**

"There's always something she's not telling me" Percy and Percy J. grumbled.

Annabeth and Annabeth C. smirked.

"Love you" they said.

**She and Tyson both looked at me, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away.**

**The thing was, part of me didn't want Tyson along. I'd spent the last three days in close quarters with the guy, getting razzed by the other campers and embarrassed a million times a day, constantly reminded that I was related to him. I needed some space.**

**Plus, I didn't know how much help he'd be, or how I'd keep him safe. Sure, he was strong, but Tyson was a little kid in Cyclops terms, maybe seven or eight years old, mentally. I could see him freaking out and starting to cry while we were trying to sneak past a monster or something. He'd get us all killed.**

"This is true" Lee said.

**On the other hand, the sound of the harpies was getting closer….**

**"We can't leave him," I decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."**

"This is also true" Michael said.

**"Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k … a C-y-k . .." She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. We could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. "You know what I mean!"**

"Poor Annie...beth" Thalia smiled.

Annabeth glared at her.

**"Tyson can go," I insisted, "if he wants to."**

**Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"**

**Annabeth gave me the evil eye, but I guess she could tell I wasn't going to change my mind. Or maybe she just knew we didn't have time to argue.**

"Both" Annabeth and Annabeth C. said.

**"All right," she said. "How do we get to that ship?"**

**"Hermes said my father would help."**

**"Well then, Seaweed Brain? What are you waiting for?"**

"Christmas!" Percy and Percy J. yelled.

"Well it's in 2 days" Athena said.

"YES!" a few demigods yelled.

Percy paled.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"I never got you a present Wise Girl" Percy said.

"You don't have to get me anything Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said.

"I want to" Percy said and left the room to go down to the streets of Manhatten to get his beautiful girlfriend a Christmas gift she'll love.

**I'd always had a hard time calling on my father, or praying, or whatever you want to call it, but I stepped into the waves.**

**"Urn, Dad?" I called. "How's it going?"**

Everyone laughed as Percy J. blushed.

"How the Hades was I supposed to start a conversation with someone who wasn't there?!" he defended.

"You could've just asked" Thalia said.

"I wanted to be polite to my immortal father" Percy J. said.

Everyone laughed harder.

**"Percy!" Annabeth whispered. "We're in a hurry!"**

**"We need your help," I called a little louder. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so …"**

A few people face-palmed.

**At first, nothing happened. Waves crashed against the shore like normal. The harpies sounded like they were right behind the sand dunes. Then, about a hundred yards out to sea, three white lines appeared on the surface. They moved fast toward the shore, like claws ripping through the ocean.**

**As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and the heads of three white stallions reared out of the waves.**

**Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!"**

"RAINBOW" Tyson said and screeched in delight.

Percy J. laughed and nodded.

**He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto the sand, I saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.**

"Hippocampi" Athena said "One of the most beautiful creatures."

A few people who knew what hippocampi were agreed with her.

**"Hippocampi!" Annabeth said. "They're beautiful."**

"Annabeth agrees with you" Poseidon said.

**The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled Annabeth.**

"It likes you!" Poseidon said.

**"We'll admire them later," I said. "Come on!"**

**"There!" a voice screeched behind us. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"**

**Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes-plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They reminded me of miniature cafeteria ladies who'd been crossbred with dodo birds. They weren't very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.**

**"Tyson!" I said. "Grab a duffel bag!"**

**He was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open, "Tyson!"**

**"Uh?"**

**"Come on!"**

**With Annabeth's help I got him moving. We gathered the bags and mounted our steeds. Poseidon must've known Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other two-just right for carrying a Cyclops.**

"That is Rainbow" Tyson smiled.

**"Giddyup!" I said. My hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Annabeth's and Tyson's followed right behind.**

**The harpies cursed at us, wailing for their snacks to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge. I wondered if I'd ever see the place again. But right then I had other problems.**

**The cruise ship was now looming in front of us-our ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.**

**Riding the hippocampus was even easier than riding a pegasus. We zipped along with the wind in our faces, speeding through the waves so smooth and steady I hardly needed to hold on at all.**

"It was pretty amazing" Annabeth said.

**As we got closer to the cruise ship, I realized just how huge it was. I felt as though I were looking up at a building in Manhattan. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took me a few seconds to decipher it: PRINCESS ANDROMEDA**

"Wasn't she a Princess who was to be sacrificed to a sea monster but then Hercules freed her?" Athena asked.

Annabeth shook her head.

"Perseus was the hero who saved her. He turned the monster to stone with Medusa's head."

A few people nodded their heads.

**Attached to the bow was a huge masthead-a three-story-tall woman wearing a white Greek chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful, with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute terror. Why anybody would want a screaming princess on the front of their vacation ship, I had no idea.**

**I remembered the myth about Andromeda and how she had been chained to a rock by her own parents as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Maybe she'd gotten too many F's on her report card or something. Anyway, my namesake, Perseus, had saved her just in time and turned the sea monster to stone using the head of Medusa.**

**That Perseus always won. That's why my mom had named me after him, even though he was a son of Zeus and I was a son of Poseidon. The original Perseus was one of the only heroes in the Greek myths who got a happy ending. The others died-betrayed, mauled, mutilated, poisoned, or cursed by the gods. My mom hoped I would inherit Perseus's luck. Judging by how my life was going so far, I wasn't real optimistic.**

"He does have a lot of luck" almost all of the future demigods said.

Percy smirked.

**"How do we get aboard?" Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what we needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.**

**"You first," I told Annabeth.**

"What a gentleman!" Aphrodite said.

"I always let Annabeth go first...unless it's dangerous, then I go first" Percy J. said.

"Or his mom made fresh cookies or he's running from a monster" Annabeth C. said.

Everyone laughed as Percy pouted, well pouted until Annabeth C. kissed him.

**She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once she'd hoisted herself onto the ladder, her hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove underwater. Annabeth began to climb. I let her get a few rungs up, then followed her.**

**Finally it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360° aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.**

**"Tyson, shhh!" I said. "Come on, big guy!"**

**"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading.**

**I stared at him. "Rainbow?"**

**The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name.**

"How sweet!" Katie, Hera, Aphrodite, Silena, Hestia, and Persephone cooed.

Tyson blushed.

**"Um, we have to go," I said. "Rainbow … well, he can't climb ladders."**

**Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane. "I will miss you, Rainbow!"**

"I get to see Rainbow everyday now!" Tyson smiled.

**The hippocampus made a neighing sound I could've sworn was crying.**

**"Maybe we'll see him again sometime," I suggested.**

**"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately. "Tomorrow!"**

**I didn't make any promises, but I finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.**

**The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.**

Annabeth blushed.

"I curse in Greek when I'm frustrated...I did it in school once."

A few people laughed.

"Over what?" Thalia asked.

"A geometry test! Only the five people around me heard" Annabeth said and every laughed.

**I figured we'd have to sneak around, being stowaways and all, but after checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade lined with closed shops, I began to realize there was nobody to hide from. I mean, sure it was the middle of the night, but we walked half the length of the boat and met no one. We passed forty or fifty cabin doors and heard no sound behind any of them.**

**"It's a ghost ship," I murmured.**

**"No," Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell."**

**Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything."**

**"Cyclopes are like satyrs," I said. "They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?"**

**He nodded nervously. Now that we were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again. Unless I concentrated very hard, it seemed that he had two eyes instead of one.**

"Sometimes I really hate the Mist" a few people said.

**"Okay," Annabeth said. "So what exactly do you smell?"**

**"Something bad," Tyson answered.**

**"Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up."**

"You sound like Percy now" Travis laughed.

"I don't like unclear answers" Annabeth and Annabeth C. said.

Percy J. coughed.

**We came outside on the swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship.**

**Above us fore and aft were more levels-a climbing wall, a putt-putt golf course, a revolving restaurant, but no sign of life.**

**And yet … I sensed something familiar. Something dangerous. I had the feeling that if I weren't so tired and burned out on adrenaline from our long night, I might be able to put a name to what was wrong.**

**"We need a hiding place," I said. "Somewhere safe to sleep."**

**"Sleep," Annabeth agreed wearily.**

**We explored a few more corridors until we found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck me as weird.**

"Hint...what number we on?" Leo asked.

"A lot" Thalia said.

**There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a handwritten note that said: Enjoy your cruise!**

"I totally would've just taken the cider and left" Connor said.

A few peopel nodded.

**We opened our duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything-extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.**

**"I'll be next door," Annabeth said. "You guys don't drink or eat anything."**

"Good idea" Athena agreed.

**"You think this place is enchanted?"**

**She frowned. "I don't know. Something isn't right. Just … be careful."**

**We locked our doors.**

**Tyson crashed on the couch. He tinkered for a few minutes on his metalworking project-which he still wouldn't show me-but soon enough he was yawning. He wrapped up his oilcloth and passed out.**

**I lay on the bed and stared out the porthole. I thought I heard voices out in the hallway, like whispering. I knew that couldn't be. We'd walked all over the ship and had seen nobody. But the voices kept me awake. They reminded me of my trip to the Underworld-the way the spirits of the dead sounded as they drifted past.**

**Finally my weariness got the best of me. I fell asleep … and had my worst dream yet.**

"Great!" Poseidon said and sloutched into his seat.

"Hey! I was comfortable" Athena, who had been jostled out of her spot, complained.

A few people chuckled.

"Sorry love" Poseidon said and sat up again.

Athena laid her head on his chest and snuggled a little closer as Poseidon put his arm around her.

Annabeth C and Percy J looked very confused.

"They're dating now" Annabeth said.

The couple still looked slightly confused but dropped it as Percy came back in...with no bags or anything.

"What'd you get me" Annabeth smiled as he sat back down next to her.

"You'll see" Percy winked as he put his arm around her.

Annabeth got comfortable again by laying her head on his shoulder and curling her feet underneath her.

Percy kissed her then layed his head on hers.

**I was standing in a cavern at the edge of an enormous pit. I knew the place too well. The entrance to Tartarus. And I recognized the cold laugh that echoed from the darkness below.**

**If it isn't the young hero. The voice was like a knife blade scraping across stone. On his way to another great victory.**

**I wanted to shout at Kronos to leave me alone. I wanted to draw Riptide and strike him down. But I couldn't move. And even if I could, how could I kill something that had already been destroyed-chopped to pieces and cast into eternal darkness?**

**Don't let me stop you, the titan said. Perhaps this time, when you fail, you'll wonder if it's worthwhile slaving for the gods. How exactly has your father shown his appreciation lately?**

**His laughter filled the cavern, and suddenly the scene changed.**

**It was a different cave-Grover's bedroom prison in the Cyclops's lair.**

**Grover was sitting at the loom in his soiled wedding dress, madly unraveling the threads of the unfinished bridal train.**

**"Honeypie!" the monster shouted from behind the boulder.**

**Grover yelped and began weaving the threads back together.**

"It only made it worse cause I was scared" Grover said.

**The room shook as the boulder was pushed aside. Looming in the doorway was a Cyclops so huge he made Tyson look vertically challenged. He had jagged yellow teeth and gnarled hands as big as my whole body. He wore a faded purple T-shirt that said WORLD SHEEP EXPO 2001. He must've been at least fifteen feet tall, but the most startling thing was his enormous milky eye, scarred and webbed with cataracts. If he wasn't completely blind, he had to be pretty darn close.**

**"What are you doing?" the monster demanded.**

**"Nothing!" Grover said in his falsetto voice. "Just weaving my bridal train, as you can see."**

**The Cyclops stuck one hand into the room and groped around until he found the loom. He pawed at the cloth. "It hasn't gotten any longer!"**

**"Oh, um, yes it has, dearest. See? I've added at least an inch."**

**"Too many delays!" the monster bellowed. Then he sniffed the air. "You smell good! Like goats!"**

**"Oh." Grover forced a weak giggle. "Do you like it? It's Eau de Chevre. I wore it just for you."**

**"Mmmm!" The Cyclops bared his pointed teeth. "Good enough to eat!"**

**"Oh, you're such a flirt!"**

Travis gave Grover a weird look.

"Allllllllllllll...righty then" he said and everyone laughed as Katie rolled her eyes and leaned into her boyfriend.

**"No more delays!"**

**"But dear, I'm not done!"**

**"Tomorrow!"**

**"No, no. Ten more days."**

**"Five!"**

**"Oh, well, seven then. If you insist."**

**"Seven! That is less than five, right?"**

"Idiot" A few people said.

PercyJ. was running his fingers through Annabeth C's hair trying to untangle it a bit.

He started pulling spider webs out of her hair and off her face, he had gotten up and got a small rag to clean the dirt off of his girlfriend.

"Percy you are too cute!"Aphrodite squeled.

"Huh?" Percy J. asked.

"You're fixing your girlfriend up!" Aphrodite said.

"Just cleanning her off...she still looks beautiful" Percy J. said.

Annabeth C. smiled and kissed her boyfriend.

**"Certainly. Oh yes."**

**The monster grumbled, still not happy with his deal, but he left Grover to his weaving and rolled the boulder back into place.**

**Grover closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, trying to calm his nerves.**

**"Hurry, Percy," he muttered. "Please, please, please!"**

**I woke to a ship's whistle and a voice on the intercom- some guy with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy.**

**"Good morning, passengers! We'll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don't forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o'clock, and for our special guests, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!"**

"What?" a few peopel said.

**I sat up in bed. "What did he say?"**

**Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. "The happy man said … bowling practice?"**

"I wish" Percy said.

**I hoped he was right, but then there was an urgent knock on the suite's interior door. Annabeth stuck her head in-her blond hair in a rat's nest. "Disemboweling practice?"**

"Thanks" Annabeth smiled.

Percy kissed her.

**Once we were all dressed, we ventured out into the ship and were surprised to see other people. A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.**

**Nobody asked who we were. Nobody paid us much attention. But there was something wrong.**

**As the family of swimmers passed us, the dad told his kids: "We are on a cruise. We are having fun."**

**"Yes," his three kids said in unison, their expressions blank. "We are having a blast. We will swim in the pool."**

"Creepy" Leo said in a sing-song voice.

The Stolls agreed with him.

"Almost as creepy as Nico" Thalia joked.

"Hey!" Nico complained and everyone laughed.

**They wandered off.**

**"Good morning," a crew member told us, his eyes glazed. "We are all enjoying ourselves aboard the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day." He drifted away.**

**"Percy, this is weird," Annabeth whispered. "They're all in some kind of trance."**

**Then we passed a cafeteria and saw our first monster. It was a hellhound-a black mastiff with its front paws up on the buffet line and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must've been young, because it was small compared to most-no bigger than a grizzly bear. Still, my blood turned cold. I'd almost gotten killed by one of those before.**

**The weird thing was: a middle-aged couple was standing in the buffet line right behind the devil dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.**

"I wanna see my dog" Percy said.

**"Not hungry anymore," Tyson murmured.**

**Before Annabeth or I could reply, a reptilian voice came from down the corridor, "Ssssix more joined yesssterday."**

**Annabeth gestured frantically toward the nearest hiding place-the women's room-and all three of us ducked inside. I was so freaked out it didn't even occur to me to be embarrassed.**

"You wouldn't have said anything about it" Connor said and Percy glared at him.

**Something-or more like two somethings-slithered past the bathroom door, making sounds like sandpaper against the carpet.**

**"Yesss," a second reptilian voice said. "He drawssss them. Ssssoon we will be sssstrong."**

**The things slithered into the cafeteria with a cold hissing that might have been snake laughter.**

**Annabeth looked at me. "We have to get out of here."**

**"You think I want to be in the girls' restroom?"**

**"I mean the ship, Percy! We have to get off the ship."**

**"Smells bad," Tyson agreed. "And dogs eat all the eggs. Annabeth is right. We must leave the restroom and ship."**

**I shuddered. If Annabeth and Tyson were actually agreeing about something, I figured I'd better listen.**

"Yeah" Annabeth said.

**Then I heard another voice outside-one that chilled me worse than any monster's.**

**"-only a matter of time. Don't push me, Agrius!"**

**It was Luke, beyond a doubt. I could never forget his voice.**

Luke immediately looked down, the smile he had before was gone.

**"I'm not pushing you!" another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke's. "I'm just saying, if this gamble doesn't pay off-"**

**"It'll pay off," Luke snapped. "They'll take the bait. Now, come, we've got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket."**

**Their voices receded down the corridor.**

**Tyson whimpered. "Leave now?"**

**Annabeth and I exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement.**

"I hate it when you do that" Nico said.

Neither Percys or Annabeths responded.

Percy and Annabeth seemed to go into their little world again...this is what break ups do to people (makes them closer).

Percy J. was still cleaning off Annabeth as she stared into his eyes.

**"We can't," I told Tyson.**

**"We have to find out what Luke is up to," Annabeth agreed. "And if possible, we're going to beat him up, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus."**

"Thanks" Luke grumbled.

"That's it" Bianca said.

"Break time?" Hera asked.

"YES!" everyone said and made beelines for bathrooms and kitchens.

* * *

**again sorry for the slow update...ive been a little busy so im gonna get 2 more chapters up today and finish the book by the end of this week:) kay guys? will that make up for it? ill even add tons of fluff...**

**im not gonna do a challenge cause im just gonna start the next chapter immediately after i upload this one:)**

**please review...it's your reviews that keep me going...and vote ont eh new poll:) im just as curious as leo;)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnabethChase~**


	10. Hermes

**CAUTION:THERE IS HERMATIS IN THIS CHAPTER! I REPEAT THERE IS HERMATIS!**

**now that that's out of the way... heres the next chapter:)**

**Luke and hermes talk along with findign out what hermes and artemis meant!**

**no answers today...ill dot hem later! i hope you like it o) -tyson okay not really**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

Hermes decided that during this break time he was going to talk to Luke and Artemis.

He hadn't decided who to talk to first though.

After a bit of thinking he decided to talk to Artemis first cause he knew talking to Luke would cause him a lot of pain.

"Artemis?" he said but it was so quiet that no one heard him.

He cleared his throat a bit.

"Artemis?" he said a little louder as the goddess walked by him.

Artemis stopped and you could see her jaw set and her hands balled into fists.

"Can I talk to you?" Hermes asked.

"Yeah" she said and turned.

Hermes watched as the rest of the bodies filed out of the room.

"What is it?" Artemis asked.

"Why are you so mad at me for that simple mistake?" Hermes asked calmly.

"Because had Aphrodite told anyone no one would have ever take me seriously" Artemis said and sat down.

"You know father was very kind about Athena" Hermes said and sat down.

"What are you saying?" Artesmis asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

Hermes scooted a little closer.

"I'm saying...maybe if you wanted to you could do what Athena did..."

"Are you suggesting I break my vow?" Artemis asked.

Hermes looked around.

"I want to" Artemis said and looked down ashamed "But what will my Hunters say? It was different with Athena because she had interaction with men all ready. Me? All I have is that one kiss with you."

"It was the best kiss of my life" Hermes said.

"It was a year ago" Artemis said.

Hermes looked at her.

"It was the best kiss ever" he repeated.

They looked into each other's eyes for a while...not realizing that they were leaning towards each other until they were an inch apart.

Hermes noticed first and sat up again.

"What?" Artemis asked then realized that she two was leaning and sat up straight.

Hermes cleared his throat a little.

"The kiss a year ago was an accident Artemis" Hermes said "but I wish it wasn't an accident. Because I love you. I love everything about you. Your love for nature, how independant you are, how strong you are. I love how you interact with your Hunters and how you treat them like family. You're beautiful, smart, strong, kind and skillful. In my eyes you're basically perfect."

Hermes ended his little speech kissing Artemis.

Artemis was shocked at first but then soon melted into him. She put her arms around his neck and his arms went around her waist.

By the time Artemis broke away they were both breathin hard.

Artemis immediately jumped back.

"We shouldn't have done that" she said and started pacing.

She ran her fingers through her hair as she muttered on about how mad her father was going to be.

Hermes grabbed her wrist forcing her to stop pacing.

"Hey" Hermes said "it'll be fine."

"Father's going to be so mad" Artemis said.

"No he won't" Hermes said.

Artemis looked him in the eyes.

Hermes pulled her into a hug.

"You'll be fine...or we don't have to tell him anything" he said.

With that he kissed her lips again softly and left to talk to his son.

* * *

Hermes came into the kitchen after talking to Artemis.

Aphrodite was smiling hugely.

She knew what just happened in there.

Everyone was confused when the god passed both empty seats and stopped next to his son.

"Luke?" Hermes asked and swallowed.

Luke looked up and his scar caught the light.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you?" Hermes asked and gestured to the living room.

Luke stood up and fallowed his dad into the living room.

They passed Artemis.

Hermes lightly brushed his hand past hers and they both smiled to themselves.

Luke was very confused.

When the door closed Luke sat down.

After a few seconds of awkward slience Hermes started.

"Luke I'm sorry" Hermes said.

"What?" Luke asked.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you to deal with your mother and her problems. I'm sorry I've never been a good father to you. I'm sorry that I was never there for you when you needed me. I'm sorry I sent you on a quest where you got hurt. Basically I'm sorry for everything. You're my favorite son. You are literally my pride and joy. I know you don't think you are because I was so distant and was never there for you. I really love you and you are my son. I'm sorry that I have pushed you so far away" Hermes said.

Luke looked taken back.

Was his dad apologizing to him?

"It's okay...dad" Luke said and Hermes eyes lit up "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I've resented you and said I hated you. I'm a bitter person and I hold grudges like I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't hate you and I know I should love the Gods. Reading these books I realized what I've done and that my thoughts are affecting the people I love. I'm sorry."

Hermes got up and hugged Luke.

Luke didn't know what to do at first but eventually he hugged his dad back.

"I love you son" Hermes said.

"Dad?" Luke asked.

"Yes?"

"What did my mom see about my future?" Luke asked.

Hermes cursed.

"She saw something very bad and it was caused by your hate of the gods" Hermes said.

"So...my hate caused something really bad?" Luke asked.

Hermes nodded.

Luke was confused.

"How?"

"Lets just say that someone uses the hate some demigods have of the gods to destroy us" Hermes said carefully.

"Kronos?"

The fire in the fireplace dimmed dramatically.

Hermes nodded.

"My hate will cause something that involves Kronos?"

"You will see in the books we are reading son" Hermes said.

"I guess I can wait" Luke said an this time he hugged his dad.

"I'm sorry" hey both said at the same time.

They stayed in the room and talked and talked for a while.

They came back intot he kitchen laughing.

"What the Hades is happening?" Apollo asked "Whenever someone walks out of the living room they're all happy and what-not!"

"Because private, heart-felt, and amazing things are told in there" Artemis smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Athena asked.

Aphrodite looked ready to burst.

Hermes and Artemis blushed.

"Aphrodite why is Artemis smiling?" Athena asked the bouncing goddess.

Aphrodite looked between Hermes and Artemis and Athena.

"Can I?" she squeked out.

Hermes looked at Artemis and Artemis said...

"They have to find out someway" she said.

Aphrodite didn't hesitate.

"Artemsi and Hermes kissed!" she squeled.

Thalia choked on her water, Zeus spewed his drink and coughed, and Apollo choked on the bite of food he took.

"Huh?" they asked.

Artemis blushed even more.

"It's just like Athena and Poseidon!" Aphrodite said.

"Artemis?" Zeus asked.

Artemis looked at her father.

"You are a virgin goddess" he said.

"Father I know! I couldn't help it! I really like him and..." Zeus cut her off.

"All I ask is that you rebuke your vow and tell your fallowers" Zeus said "it is all right for Athena and it is all right for you."

Artemis smiled.

"Really?"

Zeus nodded.

"Thank you!" she said and poofed out of the room to her Hunters.

Awkward silence.

"Congrats Hermes!" Apollo said and everyone laughed.

"Does that mean the Hunters are out of their promise?" Nico asked.

"Why? Still thinking of that Hunter Nico?" Thalia joked.

"Yeah..." Nico blushed.

"Artemis should allow it. She doesn't make her maidens do somehting she can not do" Zeus said.

"So...what Hunter Nico?" Thalia joked.

Nico was blushing.

"Who Nico?" Bianca asked.

Everyone began to annoy Nico.

"Fine!" Nico said.

Everyone got quiet.

Nico stood up from his spot next to Thalia and walked to the doorway.

"Thalia! It's Thalia" with that he left to the courtyards.

Everyone looked at Thalia.

Thalia looked down.

"Do you like him back?" Bianca asked.

Thalia didn't respond.

"You do?" Bianca asked.

Thalai got up and left to the living room.

"Awkward" Leo sang.

* * *

**Nico**

Nico didn't know why they wanted to know so bad.

He was fine not telling them.

But the pressure was to much.

He wanted to tell her but in private, not like the way he did.

Nico stopped walking in front of Aphrodite's temple.

He really had walked far.

He was about to turn away when he thought of something.

He bought a bottle of expensive perfume from a shop vendor.

He took it back to Aphrodite's temple and gave it to her.

He just wanted to say thanks for giving him the courage.

He walked back and passed numerous things.

Percy J. was getting the last bit of dirt off of Annabeth C's face.

Annabeth and Percy were taking a walk hand in hand. The were laughing and smiling.

Poseidon was leading Athena on a walk in a laurel tree grove.

Hermes and Artemis were joking around and laughing sneaking a few kisses here and there.

Nico wandered what it was like to be in love with someone who loved you back.

Nico walked back into the living room expecting to be late and see everyone else int he room but instead he was early and only saw Thalia.

Nico turned back to leave avoiding an awkward scene.

Thalia was in there getting her thoughts sorted out.

thalia just happened to be looking up when Nico came in.

"Sorry I'll leave" Nico said.

"No stay!" Thalia said "I mean..you can stay."

Nico sat down in his normal seat and began twisting his skull ring.

"So..." Thalia said "you like me?"

Nico blushed.

"Yeah..." he said.

Thalai smirked a little.

She opened her mouth to speak but then everyone filed into the room.

Another loveseat popped up for Hermes and Artemis.

"Who shall read?" Athena asked sitting down.

It was actually Dionysus that raised their hand.

The book was passed and they began reading the next chapter.

* * *

**this is the longest break ive written:) il post again tonight. sorry if you don't like hermatis. ill do thalico next break**

**thats it for now! review please!**

**see ya later!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	11. I Have the Worst Family Reunion Ever

**hey everyone! its a bit short but here it is! also you guys have no idea how happy i am right now! im only on chapter 11 and i have 200 reviews! you guys are the best:D**

**Reviewer answers:**

**Nico's Girlfriend1:**Please update I what to know what's going on between Artemis and Hermas. Sorry if I have bad spelling.  
**~I hoped the last chapter answered your question:) and...have you seen my spelling? i have terrible spelling and im too lazy to fix it:)**

**GeekyKiki**:Awesome job! Whats better than one Percabeth? 2! Ekkkk! Fan girl scream! Loved it  
**~LOL:) you sound like me;)**

**PercabethAddiction**:I love your stories they are so well written!  
**~Really? i always thoguht i don't write well...i go back and read my stories when i'm bored and im like...i could've totally made that better but it's too late now!**

**SomethingMoreCreative**: really like these types of stories. Normally, I'm not a fan of Pothena, but... I suppose it's okay in this story. You make it bearable lol ;) I am confused though... Are Percy J. and Annabeth C. falling into Tartarus or are they already there? Sometimes their dialogue confuses me on that. Update soon! :)  
**~they are falling into Tarturas...i hope your not to confused:)**

**Percabethlvrknowsall**:Hi. Hi. HI! Guess what. I just DIED! One word: Divergent. Besides that, really good! ME WANT BLUE COOKIE AND MORE! I want to say hi to HESTIA AND HERMES! Hi Hestia and Hermes! How was your day? Mine was great today. Except the part were I'm now broken because of a book. But yeah. GREAT! Bye  
**~I read that book! It was really good!**  
**Hermes:**my day was good, Artemis decided to go out with me and I'm working out me and Luke's relationship:) im glad your day was great  
**Hestia:**my day was amazing! we get to read about a brave boy and I get to watch my family fix themselves. i am glad you are having a good day:) i have not read that book...maybe i'll ask Athena if she has it and if I could borrow it:)  
**also: did you have sugar;) you seem...hyper:)**

**i hope you all like it:D**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"I have the worst family reunion ever,"** Dionysus read.

"Huh?" a few people asked.

**Annabeth volunteered to go alone since she had the cap of invisibility, but I convinced her it was too dangerous. Either we all went together, or nobody went.**

**"Nobody!" Tyson voted. "Please?"**

Percy, Annabeth, Percy J, Annabeth C, Clarisse and Grover laughed.

They got a bunch weird looks.

"It's an inside joke" they said and laughed.

**But in the end he came along, nervously chewing on his huge fingernails. We stopped at our cabin long enough to gather our stuff. We figured whatever happened, we would not be staying another night aboard the zombie cruise ship, even if they did have million-dollar bingo. **

"Nice" Connor said.

**I made sure Riptide was in my pocket and the vitamins and thermos from Hermes were at the top of my bag. I didn't want Tyson to carry everything, but he insisted, and Annabeth told me not to worry about it. Tyson could carry three full duffel bags over his shoulder as easily as I could carry a backpack.**

"I can" Tyson said proudly.

**We sneaked through the corridors, following the ship's YOU ARE HERE signs toward the admiralty suite. Annabeth scouted ahead invisibly. We hid whenever someone passed by, but most of the people we saw were just glassy-eyed zombie passengers.**

**As we came up the stairs to deck thirteen, where the admiralty suite was supposed to be, Annabeth hissed, "Hide!" and shoved us into a supply closet.**

**I heard a couple of guys coming down the hall.**

**"You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?" one of them said.**

**The other laughed. "Yeah, it's awesome."**

A few of the gods looked worried.

"They have a drakon?" they asked.

**Annabeth was still invisible, but she squeezed my arm hard. I got a feeling I should know that second guy's voice.**

Chris looked down ashamed.

Hermes noticed this.

"Not another one" he whispered.

**"I hear they got two more coming," the familiar voice said. "They keep arriving at this rate, oh, man-no contest!"**

**The voices faded down the corridor.**

**"That was Chris Rodriguez!"**

"Why is it my kids?" Hermes asked.

"I regret it" Chris said when all the gods looked at him.

"He came back to us and fought against him...he's fine" Clarisse said and glared at anyone who was still looking at Chris..

Everyone looked away.

**Annabeth took off her cap and turned visible. "You remember-from Cabin Eleven."**

**I sort of recalled Chris from the summer before. He was one of those undetermined campers who got stuck in the Hermes cabin because his Olympian dad or mom never claimed him. Now that I thought about it, I realized I hadn't seen Chris at camp this summer. "What's another half-blood doing here?"**

"Why is it my kids?" Hermes asked and put his head in his hands.

Artemis comforted him to the best of her ability.

**Annabeth shook her head, clearly troubled.**

**We kept going down the corridor. I didn't need maps anymore to know I was getting close to Luke. I sensed something cold and unpleasant-the presence of evil.**

**"Percy." Annabeth stopped suddenly. "Look."**

**She stood in front of a glass wall looking down into the multistory canyon that ran through the middle of the ship. At the bottom was the Promenade-a mall full of shops- but that's not what had caught Annabeth's attention.**

**A group of monsters had assembled in front of the candy store: a dozen Laistrygonian giants like the ones who'd attacked me with dodge balls, two hellhounds, and a few even stranger creatures-humanoid females with twin serpent tails instead of legs.**

**"Scythian Dracaenae," Annabeth whispered. "Dragon women."**

"There was alot of them" the demigods, that fought in the war, said.

"When?" Hera asked.

They shook their heads.

**The monsters made a semicircle around a young guy in Greek armor who was hacking on a straw dummy. A lump formed in my throat when I realized the dummy was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. As we watched, the guy in armor stabbed the dummy through its belly and ripped upward. Straw flew everywhere. The monsters cheered and howled.**

"It resembles a camper?" Zeus asked.

A few demigods nodded.

"I wonder if they knew about Camp Jupiter?" Percy said looking at Jason.

"Maybe" Jason said "we did beat the Titans at their mountain."

Percy shrugged.

**Annabeth stepped away from the window. Her face was ashen.**

Luke looked guilty.

**"Come on," I told her, trying to sound braver than I felt. "The sooner we find Luke the better."**

**At the end of the hallway were double oak doors that looked like they must lead somewhere important. When we were thirty feet away, Tyson stopped. "Voices inside."**

**"You can hear that far?" I asked.**

"Yeah" Percy said.

**Tyson closed his eye like he was concentrating hard. Then his voice changed, becoming a husky approximation of Luke's. "-the prophecy ourselves. The fools won't know which way to turn."**

**Before I could react, Tyson's voice changed again, becoming deeper and gruffer, like the other guy we'd heard talking to Luke outside the cafeteria. "You really think the old horseman is gone for good?"**

"Horseman?" Camp Half-Blood campers asked dangerously.

**Tyson laughed Luke's laugh. "They can't trust him. Not with the skeletons in his closet. The poisoning of the tree was the final straw."**

Luke got a bunch of angry looks.

**Annabeth shivered. "Stop that, Tyson! How do you do that? It's creepy."**

"Okay, that's creepy" a few girls sad.

**Tyson opened his eye and looked puzzled. "Just listening."**

**"Keep going," I said. "What else are they saying?"**

**Tyson closed his eye again.**

**He hissed in the gruff man's voice: "Quiet!" Then Luke's voice, whispering: "Are you sure?"**

**"Yes," Tyson said in the gruff voice. "Right outside."**

"You're caught" Apollo said.

Athena and Poseidon looked pale.

**Too late, I realized what was happening.**

**I just had time to say, "Run!" when the doors of the stateroom burst open and there was Luke, flanked by two hairy giants armed with javelins, their bronze tips aimed right at our chests.**

**"Well," Luke said with a crooked smile. "If it isn't my two favorite cousins. Come right in."**

**The stateroom was beautiful, and it was horrible.**

"I'm confused. Is it beautiful or horrible?" Travis asked.

**The beautiful part: Huge windows curved along the back wall, looking out over the stern of the ship. Green sea and blue sky stretched all the way to the horizon. A Persian rug covered the floor. Two plush sofas occupied the middle of the room, with a canopied bed in one corner and a mahogany dining table in the other. The table was loaded with food-pizza boxes, bottles of soda, and a stack of roast beef sandwiches on a silver platter.**

**The horrible part: On a velvet dais at the back of the room lay a ten-foot-long golden casket. A sarcophagus, engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying grisly deaths. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, the casket made the whole room feel cold.**

**"Well," Luke said, spreading his arms proudly. "A little nicer than Cabin Eleven, huh?"**

"Not nearly" Connor and Travis said with pride.

**He'd changed since the last summer. Instead of Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, he wore a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and leather loafers. His sandy hair, which used to be so unruly, was now clipped short. He looked like an evil male model, showing off what the fashionable college-age villain was wearing to Harvard this year.**

Everyone laughed.

"Nice" Travis said.

**He still had the scar under his eye-a jagged white line from his battle with a dragon. And propped against the sofa was his magical sword, Backbiter, glinting strangely with its half-steel, half-Celestial bronze blade that could kill both mortals and monsters.**

**"Sit," he told us. He waved his hand and three dining chairs scooted themselves into the center of the room.**

**None of us sat.**

**Luke's large friends were still pointing their javelins at us. They looked like twins, but they weren't human. They stood about eight feet tall, for one thing, and wore only blue jeans, probably because their enormous chests were already shag-carpeted with thick brown fur. They had claws for fingernails, feet like paws. Their noses were snoutlike, and their teeth were all pointed canines.**

**"Where are my manners?" Luke said smoothly. "These are my assistants, Agrius and Oreius. Perhaps you've heard of them."**

**I said nothing. Despite the javelins pointed at me, it wasn't the bear twins who scared me.**

"They'd scare me" Leo said "then again I'm not the all powerful Perseus Jackson."

Percy and Percy J. laughed.

"I still get afraid at stuff Leo" Percy J. said.

**I'd imagined meeting Luke again many times since he'd tried to kill me last summer. I'd pictured myself boldly standing up to him, challenging him to a duel. But now that we were face-to-face, I could barely stop my hands from shaking.**

"Nice" Apollo said.

**"You don't know Agrius and Oreius's story?" Luke asked. "Their mother … well, it's sad, really. Aphrodite ordered the young woman to fall in love. She refused and ran to Artemis for help. Artemis let her become one of her maiden huntresses, but Aphrodite got her revenge. She bewitched the young woman into falling in love with a bear. When Artemis found out, she abandoned the girl in disgust. Typical of the gods, wouldn't you say? They fight with one another and the poor humans get caught in the middle. The girl's twin sons here, Agrius and Oreius, have no love for Olympus. They like half-bloods well enough, though …"**

"That's not how the story went!" Artemis said "she left the Hunt when she found out she was pregnant!"

"I did not ORDER the girl to fall in love! I suggested it! I did not make her fall in love with a bear. I let her be when she joined the Hunt. Eros was the one who made her fall in love" Aphrodite said "I don't touch girls of the Hunt...Artemis would kill me."

**"For lunch," Agrius growled. His gruff voice was the one I'd heard talking with Luke earlier.**

**"Hehe! Hehe!" His brother Oreius laughed, licking his fur-lined lips. He kept laughing like he was having an asthmatic fit until Luke and Agrius both stared at him.**

**"Shut up, you idiot!" Agrius growled. "Go punish yourself!"**

**Oreius whimpered. He trudged over to the corner of the room, slumped onto a stool, and banged his forehead against the dining table, making the silver plates rattle.**

**Luke acted like this was perfectly normal behavior. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Well, Percy, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How's your mom? How's school?"**

A few people looked at Luke weirdly.

**"You poisoned Thalia's tree."**

**Luke sighed. "Right to the point, eh? Okay, sure I poisoned the tree. So what?"**

"I did?" Luke asked.

Zeus looked ready to kill the Son of Hermes.

"She gave her life for you!" Nico said angerly(SPELLCHECK).

"She protects Camp!" Zeus said.

"How could you?!" a few people asked.

Others looked at him with disgust.

Hermes stood up for him.

"Family listen! This is in the future! My boy has let his hate for ME hurt people he loves. Do not punish him! He has not done anything yet" Hermes said.

Everyone let it drop...for now.

Artemis was proud of Hermes for standing up for his son.

Luke was very grateful right now for his dad.

**"How could you?" Annabeth sounded so angry I thought she'd explode. **

"I could have" Annabeth said.

**"Thalia saved your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her-"**

**"I didn't dishonor her!" Luke snapped. "The gods dishonored her, Annabeth! If Thalia were alive, she'd be on my side."**

"WHAT?!" Thalia asked "No I wouldn't! My father guided me and helped me...I know that for a fact."

Zeus looked at his daughter proudly.

**"Liar!"**

**"If you knew what was coming, you'd understand-"**

**"I understand you want to destroy the camp!" she yelled. "You're a monster!"**

**Luke shook his head. "The gods have blinded you. Can't you imagine a world without them, Annabeth? What good is that ancient history you study? Three thousand years of baggage! The West is rotten to the core. It has to be destroyed. Join me! We can start the world anew. We could use your intelligence, Annabeth."**

**"Because you have none of your own!"**

"Burn" the Stolls, Leo, and Apollo said.

"Nice one Annabeth" Travis high-fived Annabeth.

**His eyes narrowed. "I know you, Annabeth. You deserve better than tagging along on some hopeless quest to save the camp. Half-Blood Hill will be overrun by monsters within the month. The heroes who survive will have no choice but to join us or be hunted to extinction. You really want to be on a losing team … with company like this?" Luke pointed at Tyson.**

"Rude?" the people who know Tyson or who have grown to love him said.

**"Hey!" I said.**

**"Traveling with a Cyclops," Luke chided. "Talk about dishonoring Thalia's memory! I'm surprised at you, Annabeth. You of all people-"**

**"Stop it!" she shouted.**

**I didn't know what Luke was talking about, but Annabeth buried her head in her hands like she was about to cry.**

"I did" Annabeth said.

**"Leave her alone," I said. "And leave Tyson out this."**

**Luke laughed. "Oh, yeah, I heard. Your father claimed him."**

"Spy" a few people said.

**I must have looked surprised, because Luke smiled. "Yes, Percy, I know all about that. And about your plan to find the Fleece. What were those coordinates, again … 30, 31, 75, 12? You see, I still have friends at camp who keep me posted."**

**"Spies, you mean."**

Everyone who knew who the spy was looked down sadly.

**He shrugged. "How many insults from your father can you stand, Percy? You think he's grateful to you? You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?"**

"I care about both of them" Poseidon shot.

**Tyson clenched his fists and made a rumbling sound down in his throat.**

**Luke just chuckled. "The gods are so using you, Percy. Do you have any idea what's in store for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even told you the prophecy?"**

**I wanted to get in Luke's face and tell him off, but as usual, he knew just how to throw me off balance.**

**Sixteenth birthday?**

Percy, Annabeth, Annabeth C, Percy J. and Grover looked down sadly.

**I mean, I knew Chiron had received a prophecy from the Oracle many years ago. I knew part of it was about me. But, if I reached my sixteenth birthday? I didn't like the sound of that.**

**"I know what I need to know," I managed. "Like, who my enemies are."**

**"Then you're a fool."**

**Tyson smashed the nearest dining chair to splinters. "Percy is not a fool!"**

"He is too brave!" the girls cooed.

**Before I could stop him, he charged Luke. His fists came down toward Luke's head-a double overhead blow that would've knocked a hole in titanium-but the bear twins intercepted. They each caught one of Tyson's arms and stopped him cold. They pushed him back and Tyson stumbled. He fell to the carpet so hard the deck shook.**

**"Too bad, Cyclops," Luke said. "Looks like my grizzly friends together are more than a match for your strength. Maybe I should let them-"**

**"Luke," I cut in. "Listen to me. Your father sent us."**

"Uh-oh" Apollo said.

"Not the BESt thing to say" Hermes said.

**His face turned the color of pepperoni. "Don't-even- mention him."**

**"He told us to take this boat. I thought it was just for a ride, but he sent us here to find you. He told me he won't give up on you, no matter how angry you are."**

**"Angry?" Luke roared. **

"Sounds pretty angry to me" Leo said.

**"Give up on me? He abandoned me, Percy! I want Olympus destroyed! Every throne crushed to rubble! You tell Hermes it's going to happen, too. **

Hermes flinched.

**Each time a half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker and we grow stronger. He grows stronger." Luke pointed to the gold sarcophagus.**

**The box creeped me out, but I was determined not to show it. "So?" I demanded. "What's so special …"**

**Then it hit me, what might be inside the sarcophagus. The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. "Whoa, you don't mean-"**

"Kronos" the Gods said.

**"He is re-forming," Luke said. "Little by little, we're calling his life force out of the pit. With every recruit who pledges our cause, another small piece appears-"**

**"That's disgusting!" Annabeth said.**

The Olympians looked afraid.

"It's true then?" they asked.

**Luke sneered at her. "Your mother was born from Zeus's split skull, Annabeth. I wouldn't talk.**

"Excuse me?" Athena asked.

"Low blow" someone said.

**Soon there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."**

"Right" Hephaestus scoffed.

**"You're insane," Annabeth said.**

**"Join us and you'll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy this cruise ship and much more. Percy, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a mansion. You can have power, fame-whatever you want.**

"I want my home and family and friends to be left alone" Percy said.

**Annabeth, you can realize your dream of being an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years. A temple to the lords of the next age!"**

"She did that! It is beautiful" Percy J said.

Annabeth C smiled and kissed him, he kissed her back.

**"Go to Tartarus," she said.**

Percy J and Annabeth C cringed.

"On our way" they said.

**Luke sighed. "A shame."**

**He picked up something that looked like a TV remote and pressed a red button. Within seconds the door of the stateroom opened and two uniformed crew members came in, armed with nightsticks. They had the same glassy-eyed look as the other mortals I'd seen, but I had a feeling this wouldn't make them any less dangerous in a fight.**

**"Ah, good, security," Luke said, "I'm afraid we have some stowaways."**

**"Yes, sir," they said dreamily.**

**Luke turned to Oreius. "It's time to feed the Aethiopian drakon. Take these fools below and show them how it's done."**

**Oreius grinned stupidly. "Hehe! Hehe!"**

**"Let me go, too," Agrius grumbled. "My brother is worthless. That Cyclops-"**

**"Is no threat," Luke said. He glanced back at the golden casket, as if something were troubling him. "Agrius, stay here. We have important matters to discuss."**

**"But-"**

**"Oreius, don't fail me. Stay in the hold to make sure the drakon is properly fed."**

**Oreius prodded us with his javelin and herded us out of the stateroom, followed by the two human security guards.**

**As I walked down the corridor with Oreius's javelin poking me in the back, I thought about what Luke had said-that the bear twins together were a match for Tyson's strength. But maybe separately …**

**We exited the corridor amidships and walked across an open deck lined with lifeboats. I knew the ship well enough to realize this would be our last look at sunlight. Once we got to the other side, we'd take the elevator down into the hold, and that would be it.**

**I looked at Tyson and said, "Now."**

**Thank the gods, he understood. He turned and smacked Oreius thirty feet backward into the swimming pool, right into the middle of the zombie tourist family.**

**"Ah!" the kids yelled in unison. "We are not having a blast in the pool!"**

Everyone chuckled.

**One of the security guards drew his nightstick, but Annabeth knocked the wind out of him with a well-placed kick. The other guard ran for the nearest alarm box.**

**"Stop him!" Annabeth yelled, but it was too late.**

**Just before I banged him on head with a deck chair, he hit the alarm.**

**Red lights flashed. Sirens wailed.**

"Great" Poseidon said.

**"Lifeboat!" I yelled.**

**We ran for the nearest one.**

**By the time we got the cover off, monsters and more security men were swarming the deck, pushing aside tourists and waiters with trays of tropical drinks. A guy in Greek armor drew his sword and charged, but slipped in a puddle of piña colada. **

"It was funny despite our situation" Percy laughed.

**Laistrygonian archers assembled on the deck above us, notching arrows in their enormous bows.**

**"How do you launch this thing?" screamed Annabeth.**

**A hellhound leaped at me, but Tyson slammed it aside with a fire extinguisher.**

"Go Tyson!" everyone yelled and Tyson blushed.

**"Get in!" I yelled. I uncapped Riptide and slashed the first volley of arrows out of the air. Any second we would be overwhelmed.**

**The lifeboat was hanging over the side of the ship, high above the water. Annabeth and Tyson were having no luck with the release pulley.**

**I jumped in beside them.**

**"Hold on!" I yelled, and I cut the ropes.**

**A shower of arrows whistled over our heads as we free-fell toward the ocean.**

Poseidon, Sally and Athena let out a breath of relief.

"Nice way to end the chapter" Dionysus said and held up the book.

"Who's next?" he asked.

Lee raised his hand and the book was passed to him.

* * *

**i hope you liked it! im gonna work on the next chapter now:)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	12. We Hitch a Ride With Dead Confederates

**i just realized...i never posted pollresults:)**

**everyone seemed to like the Last Olympian book the best:) i prefer Titan's curse or last olympian:)**

**Reviewer answers:**

**Kireeofolympus:**Ummmm... I know I just reviewed this story, but I happen to be ADD and I wanted to ask you a few questions. Ummm. Wow I sound like a weirdo... Ok you don't have to answer I'm just curious.

1. Obviously you're a demigod so who's your godly parent?  
2. Who is your favorite character? ( besides any of the seven)  
3. What state do you live in?  
That's it. If you don't want to answer that's ok. I'm just ADD so I do random things sometimes...  
Anyway... Keep updating!  
kireeofolympus  
(( P.S. if you're a daughter of Athena then we're sisters! :) weird but awesome!)  
**~I don't mind answering questions:) i love when people ask me questions:D 1)Athena:) all the way:) cabin 6! Wooooooo! i have a new sister:D 2)I havre to say i have a lot; Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, Nico or Luke:)) 3)I am a proud buckeye! Ohio:D**

**Percabeth226:**Angrily, not angerly, just for the future. I'm kind of a grammar Nazi, so I honestly could not help myself.  
~thats fine! my best friend is a grammar Nazi. Whenever we're texting or something and ill use abbreviations or spell something wrong he'll correct me thanks:) for the tip i honestly didn't know how to spell it!

**Percabethlvrknowsall:**YES! I had sugar! SO I was very hyper that day. OMG! HOUSE OF ANUBIS WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME! OMG! OMG! NOT MY EDDIE YOU FIEND! LOL! So I have a shout out. SHOUT OUT! LOL! Okay so Hi to the following:  
Ares: YOU SUCK! I CAN BEAT YOU WITH A PINKIE! LOL!  
Zeus: HI! Are you sure that Percy isn't the king of gods and your just the god of theatrics?  
Hera: Are you sure Annabeth isn't the queen of the gods and your just the goddess of mean?  
Athena: HI! MOM!  
Poseidon: HI! YOUR AWESOME!  
**~okay now i think you had like a double espresso coffee and sugar! LOL**  
**Ares:**you puny mortal! I am ARES! No one can beat me! Sea Breath's kid only did cause I wasn't prepared!  
**Zeus:**hmph! You will be lucky if i do not strike you down mortal! i am not dramatic! do not listen to poseidon! he is the dramtic one! why does everyone hate me? *stomps away*  
**Hera:**I beg your pardon? I am not mean! That no good daughter of Athena is nnot quenn material! Ares! i thoguht i said go to your room! no dinner for a week young man! see im not mean!  
**Athena:**hello Daughter:) it's good to hear from you:) How is your day? Have you been training real hard?and Hera! what did you mean by, no-good-daughter-of-athena?  
**Poseidon:**Thank you:) I also believe zeus is the god of theatrics:)) Percy should be king if you ask me. Annabeth should be queen as well...Hera is quite mean...i mean she threw Hephaestus off of Mount Olympus, who does that to their child?

**kireofolympus:we have another sister! Percabetlvrknowsall!**

**i think that'll do for now:) **

**WANTED: i had read story a while ago on my ipod...im not sure the name of it:( it was really good and it had a sequel...i cannot find it:( in the story there was a little girl, raised by Lupa, her name was Lucy or Lily, she was the daughter of Percabeth:) she was taken by Hera the instant she was born :( PErcy was camp jupiter and he brought the romans across country, witht he help of the gods, to join camp half blood. during the story Athena had to kill Medusa so she could become Queen of the Gods, she was married to Poseidon...later on Amphitrite threw a sword made to kill the gods at Poseidon and he almost died:'( but Athena saved him by telling him he was the king of the gods and that they were married. some more of the story went onand at the end percy and annabeth became the god/goddess of heroes! IF YOU WROTE/KNOW WHAT STORY I AM TALKING AOUT THEN PM ME THE ANSWER! PLEASE I REALLY WANT TO READ IT! i know it was about 75 chapters long! please help me if you know the story:)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"We hitch a ride with dead confederates," **Lee read in a professional voice.

"Should I be worried?" Poseidon asked.

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other.

"No" they said

**"Thermos!" I screamed as we hurtled toward the water.**

**"What?" Annabeth must've thought I'd lost my mind. She was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, her hair flying straight up like a torch.**

Everyone imagined that and laughed.

Annabeth pouted until Percy kissed her.

**But Tyson understood. He managed to open my duffel bag and take out Hermes's magical thermos without losing his grip on it or the boat.**

**Arrows and javelins whistled past us.**

**I grabbed the thermos and hoped I was doing the right thing. "Hang on!"**

**"I am hanging on!" Annabeth yelled.**

**"Tighter!"**

A few people laughed.

**I hooked my feet under the boat's inflatable bench, and as Tyson grabbed Annabeth and me by the backs of our shirts, I gave the thermos cap a quarter turn.**

**Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the thermos and propelled us sideways, turning our downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing.**

**The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free.**

"It most likely was" Hermes said.

**As we hit the ocean, we bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, then we were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in our faces and nothing but sea ahead.**

**I heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind us, but we were already out of weapon range. The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, and then it was gone.**

"No one liked that ship anyway" Apollo said waving his hand dissmisivaley (SPELLCHECK).

A few people let out a breath in relief.

**As we raced over the sea, Annabeth and I tried to send an Iris-message to Chiron. We figured it was important we let somebody know what Luke was doing, and we didn't know who else to trust.**

"Good idea" Athena and Poseidon said at the same time.

**The wind from the thermos stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight-perfect for an Iris-message-but our connection was still poor. When Annabeth threw a gold drachma into the mist and prayed for the rainbow goddess to show us Chiron, his face appeared all right, but there was some kind of weird strobe light flashing in the background and rock music blaring, like he was at a dance club.**

"I love the Party Ponies" Apollo, Hermes, Connor and Travis said.

**We told him about sneaking away from camp, and Luke and the Princess Andromeda and the golden box for Kronos's remains, but between the noise on his end and the rushing wind and water on our end, I'm not sure how much he heard.**

**"Percy," Chiron yelled, "you have to watch out for-"**

**His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him-a bunch of voices whooping it up like Comanche warriors.**

**"What?" I yelled.**

**"Curse my relatives!" Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhere out of sight. "Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Percy leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece-"**

**"Yeah, baby!" somebody behind Chiron yelled. "Woo-hoooooo!"**

**The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made our boat vibrate.**

**"-Miami," Chiron was yelling. "I'll try to keep watch-"**

**Our misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone.**

**An hour later we spotted land-a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on our starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. I guess it isn't every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by three kids.**

"Obviosuly" Nico and Thalia said and looked at each other before quickly looking away.

A few people snickered.

**"That's Virginia Beach!" Annabeth said as we approached the shoreline. "Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That's like-"**

**"Five hundred and thirty nautical miles," I said.**

"Huh?" a few people asked.

**She stared at me. "How did you know that?"**

**"I-I'm not sure."**

**Annabeth thought for a moment. "Percy, what's our position?"**

**"36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west," I said immediately. Then I shook my head. "Whoa. How did I know that?"**

"Poseidon's genes" Athena said.

Percy and Poseidon smiled.

**"Because of your dad," Annabeth guessed. "When you're at sea, you have perfect bearings. That is so cool."**

Percy and Poseidon smiled.

**I wasn't sure about that. I didn't want to be a human GPS unit. But before I could say anything, Tyson tapped my shoulder. "Other boat is coming."**

**I looked back. The coast guard vessel was definitely on our tail now. Its lights were flashing and it was gaining speed.**

"You guys really have no luck do you?" Demeter asked.

All the demigods shook their heads.

**"We can't let them catch us," I said. "They'll ask too many questions."**

**"Keep going into Chesapeake Bay," Annabeth said. "I know a place we can hide."**

Thalia and Luke widened their eyes and looked at Annabeth.

Annabeth nodded.

**I didn't ask what she meant, or how she knew the area so well. I risked loosening the thermos cap a little more, and a fresh burst of wind sent us rocketing around the northern tip of Virginia Beach into Chesapeake Bay. The coast guard boat fell farther and farther behind. We didn't slow down until the shores of the bay narrowed on either side, and I realized we'd entered the mouth of a river.**

**I could feel the change from salt water to fresh water. Suddenly I was tired and frazzled, like I was coming down off a sugar high. I didn't know where I was anymore, or which way to steer the boat. It was a good thing Annabeth was directing me.**

"So it only works in salt water then?" Jason asked.

"Poseidon's God of the Seas, salt water" Percy said "naiads control rivers and other fresh water sources."

**"There," she said. "Past that sandbar."**

**We veered into a swampy area choked with marsh grass. I beached the lifeboat at the foot of a giant cypress.**

**Vine-covered trees loomed above us. Insects chirred in the woods. The air was muggy and hot, and steam curled off the river. Basically, it wasn't Manhattan, and I didn't like it.**

"Poor Percy misses the city" Nico said in a babyish voice.

Percy stuck his tongue at him.

**"Come on," Annabeth said. "It's just down the bank."**

**"What is?" I asked.**

**"Just follow." She grabbed a duffel bag. "And we'd better cover the boat. We don't want to draw attention."**

**After burying the lifeboat with branches, Tyson and I followed Annabeth along the shore, our feet sinking in red mud. A snake slithered past my shoe and disappeared into the grass.**

"I don't like snakes" Leo said.

"I like snakes" Artemis and Hermes said at the same time.

They blushed as everyone chuckled.

**"Not a good place," Tyson said. He swatted the mosquitoes that were forming a buffet line on his arm.**

**After another few minutes, Annabeth said, "Here."**

**All I saw was a patch of brambles. Then Annabeth moved aside a woven circle of branches, like a door, and I realized I was looking into a camouflaged shelter.**

Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke smiled.

**The inside was big enough for three, even with Tyson being the third. The walls were woven from plant material, like a Native American hut, but they looked pretty waterproof. Stacked in the corner was everything you could want for a campout-sleeping bags, blankets, an ice chest, and a kerosene lamp. There were demigod provisions, too- bronze javelin tips, a quiver full of arrows, an extra sword, and a box of ambrosia. The place smelled musty, like it had been vacant for a long time.**

**"A half-blood hideout." I looked at Annabeth in awe. You made this place?"**

**"Thalia and I," she said quietly. "And Luke."**

"Oh" those, who hadn't figured it out, said.

"When you were on the run?" Athena asked.

"Yeah" the three demigods said.

**That shouldn't have bothered me. I mean, I knew Thalia and Luke had taken care of Annabeth when she was little. ****I knew the three of them had been runaways together, hiding from monsters, surviving on their own before Grover found them and tried to get them to Half-Blood Hill. But whenever Annabeth talked about the time she'd spent with them, I kind of felt … I don't know. Uncomfortable?**

**No. That's not the word.**

**The word was jealous.**

"Why my thoughts?!" Percy asked again.

He was blushing bright red, so was Annabeth and Luke.

Everyoen laughed at Percy shrunk down in his seat and Annabeth complained about being jostled.

**"So …" I said. "You don't think Luke will look for us here?"**

**She shook her head. "We made a dozen safe houses like this. I doubt Luke even remembers where they are. Or cares."**

**She threw herself down on the blankets and started going through her duffel bag. Her body language made it pretty clear she didn't want to talk.**

**"Um, Tyson?" I said. "Would you mind scouting around outside? Like, look for a wilderness convenience store or something?"**

**"Convenience store?"**

**"Yeah, for snacks. Powdered donuts or something. Just don't go too far."**

"Why donuts?" Zeus asked.

"I need to keep him busy" Percy mumlbed.

**"Powdered donuts," Tyson said earnestly. "I will look for powdered donuts in the wilderness." He headed outside and started calling, "Here, donuts!"**

"Gotta love Tyson" Apollo said and Tyson blushed as everyone chuckled.

**Once he was gone, I sat down across from Annabeth. "Hey, I'm sorry about, you know, seeing Luke."**

**"It's not your fault." She unsheathed her knife and started cleaning the blade with a rag.**

**"He let us go too easily," I said.**

**I hoped I'd been imagining it, but Annabeth nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. What we overheard him say about a gamble, and 'they'll take the bait'… I think he was talking about us."**

**"The Fleece is the bait? Or Grover?"**

**She studied the edge of her knife. "I don't know, Percy. Maybe he wants the Fleece for himself. Maybe he's hoping we'll do the hard work and then he can steal it from us. I just can't believe he would poison the tree."**

"Neither can I" Luke mumbled.

**"What did he mean," I asked, "that Thalia would've been on his side?"**

**"He's wrong."**

**"You don't sound sure."**

**Annabeth glared at me, and I started to wish I hadn't asked her about this while she was holding a knife.**

Everyone chuckled.

**"Percy, you know who you remind me of most? Thalia. You guys are so much alike it's scary. I mean, either you would've been best friends or you would've strangled each other."**

Percy looked at Thalia.

"Both" he said.

"How?" Hephaestsus asked.

"We are best friends but we have our days when we just want to strangle each other" Thalia said.

"Ah" Hephaestus, along with a few others, said.

**"Let's go with 'best friends.'"**

Everyone laughed.

**"Thalia got angry with her dad sometimes. So do you. Would you turn against Olympus because of that?"**

"No" almost all the demigods said.

**I stared at the quiver of arrows in the corner. "No."**

"Who had the arrows?" Artemis asked.

Annabeth and Luke both pointed to Thalia.

"They were mine" she said.

**"Okay, then. Neither would she. Luke's wrong." Annabeth stuck her knife blade into the dirt.**

"But you just cleaned it" Leo said.

"And?" Annabeth asked.

"Never mind" Leo said.

**I wanted to ask her about the prophecy Luke had mentioned and what it had to do with my sixteenth birthday. But I figured she wouldn't tell me. Chiron had made it pretty clear that I wasn't allowed to hear it until the gods decided otherwise.**

"That would be annoying" Rachel said.

Everyone jumped, they forgot she was there.

She was keeping a low profile after the Percabeth fight.

**"So what did Luke mean about Cyclopes?" I asked. "He said you of all people-"**

"Here we go" Annabeth said.

**"I know what he said. He … he was talking about the real reason Thalia died."**

**I waited, not sure what to say.**

**Annabeth drew a shaky breath. "You can never trust a Cyclops, Percy. Six years ago, on the night Grover was leading us to Half-Blood Hill-"**

**She was interrupted when the door of the hut creaked open. Tyson crawled in.**

**"Powdered donuts!" he said proudly, holding up a pastry box.**

"No way" Leo said at the same time the Stolls said "nuh-uh" and Hermes and Apollo said "Get out!"

Everyone was shocked.

"How in the Underworld" Bekendorf said, avoiding the word Hades in respect for the Lord of the dead.

"Unbelievable" Michael said.

"How did he do that?" Silena asked.

"You'll..." Percy started.

"SEE!" everyone finished.

"We get it" Leo grumbled.

**Annabeth stared at him. "Where did you get that? We're in the middle of the wilderness. There's nothing around for-"**

**"Fifty feet," Tyson said. "Monster Donut shop-just over the hill!"**

"Not good" Aphrodite said.

**"This is bad," Annabeth muttered.**

**We were crouching behind a tree, staring at the donut shop in the middle of the woods. It looked brand new, with brightly lit windows, a parking area, and a little road leading off into the forest, but there was nothing else around, and no cars parked in the lot. We could see one employee reading a magazine behind the cash register. That was it. On the store's marquis, in huge black letters that even I could read, it said:**

**MONSTER DONUT**

**A cartoon ogre was taking a bite out of the O in MONSTER. The place smelled good, like fresh-baked chocolate donuts.**

**"This shouldn't be here," Annabeth whispered. "It's wrong."**

**"What?" I asked. "It's a donut shop."**

**"Shhh!"**

**"Why are we whispering? Tyson went in and bought a dozen. Nothing happened to him."**

**"He's a monster."**

**"Aw, c'mon, Annabeth. Monster Donut doesn't mean monsters! It's a chain. We've got them in New** **York."**

"It is the mythological center of the world at this present moment" Hera said.

**"A chain," she agreed. "And don't you think it's strange that one appeared immediately after you told Tyson to get donuts? Right here in the middle of the woods?"**

**I thought about it. It did seem a little weird, but, I mean, donut shops weren't real high on my list of sinister forces.**

Everyone rolled their eyes.

Percy tried to defend himself but was cut off when Annabeth kissed him.

They continued to kiss while Lee decided to continue reading.

**"It could be a nest," Annabeth explained.**

**Tyson whimpered. I doubt he understood what Annabeth was saying any better than I did, but her tone was making him nervous. He'd plowed through half a dozen donuts from his box and was getting powdered sugar all over his face.**

**"A nest for what?" I asked.**

**"Haven't you ever wondered how franchise stores pop up so fast?" she asked. "One day there's nothing and then the next day-boom, there's a new burger place or a coffee shop or whatever? First a single store, then two, then four- exact replicas spreading across the country?"**

**"Um, no. Never thought about it."**

**"Percy, some of the chains multiply so fast because all their locations are magically linked to**** the life force of a monster. Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it back in the 1950s. They breed-"**

"Breed what?" everyoen asked.

**She froze.**

**"What?" I demanded. "They breed what?"**

**"No-sudden-moves," Annabeth said, like her life depended on it. "Very slowly, turn around."**

"It kinda did" Annabeth said when she and Percy finally spilt apart.

"Can stop wiht he PDA!" Thalia and Nico said.

"Hmmmmmm...no" Percy and Annabeth said kissed again.

Thalia and Nico pretended to puke.

**Then I heard it: a scraping noise, like something large dragging its belly through the leaves.**

**I turned and saw a rhino-size thing moving through the shadows of the trees. It was hissing, its front half writhing in all different directions. I couldn't understand what I was seeing at first. Then I realized the thing had multiple necks-at least seven, each topped with a hissing reptilian head. Its skin was leathery, and under each neck it wore a plastic bib that read: I'M A MONSTER DONUT KID!**

"A hydra?!" Poseidon and Athena both said.

"Yeah" Percy said taking a small break.

"You said we didn't have to worry!" the two Olympians said.

"I forgot about the hydra" Annabeth said in a quickened voice, she was short on breath.

**I took out my ballpoint pen, but Annabeth locked eyes with me-a silent warning. Not yet.**

**I understood. A lot of monsters have terrible eyesight. It was possible the Hydra might pass us by. But if I uncapped my sword now, the bronze glow would certainly get its attention.**

**We waited.**

**The Hydra was only a few feet away. It seemed to be sniffing the ground and the trees like it was hunting for something. Then I noticed that two of the heads were ripping apart a piece of yellow canvas-one of our duffel bags. The thing had already been to our campsite. It was following our scent.**

Athena and Poseidon looked very pale.

"My son's gonna die" Poseidon said.

"Hades, if my Daughter does not get intot Elysium I'll find a way to kill you" Athena said.

"Mom?" Annabeth C said.

"Dad?" Percy J said.

Athena and Poseidon looked.

"We're fine" the demigod couple said.

Percy and Annabeth tuned out again.

Percy was telling Annabeth something as he stroked her cheek.

Annabeth was smiling and her eyes prickled with tears of joy before she kissed her boyfriend passionately.

**My heart pounded. I'd seen a stuffed Hydra-head trophy at camp before, but that did nothing to prepare me for the real thing. Each head was diamond-shaped, like a rattlesnake's, but the mouths were lined with jagged rows of sharklike teeth.**

**Tyson was trembling. He stepped back and accidentally snapped a twig. Immediately, all seven heads turned toward us and hissed.**

**"Scatter!" Annabeth yelled. She dove to the right.**

**I rolled to the left. One of the Hydra heads spat an arc of green liquid that shot past my shoulder and splashed against an elm. The trunk smoked and began to disintegrate. The whole tree toppled straight toward Tyson, who still hadn't moved, petrified by the monster that was now right in front of him.**

**"Tyson!" I tackled him with all my might, knocking him aside just as the Hydra lunged and the tree crashed on top of two of its heads.**

**The Hydra stumbled backward, yanking its heads free then wailing in outrage at the fallen tree. All seven heads shot acid, and the elm melted into a steaming pool of muck.**

**"Move!" I told Tyson. I ran to one side and uncapped Riptide, hoping to draw the monster's attention.**

**It worked.**

**The sight of celestial bronze is hateful to most monsters. As soon as my glowing blade appeared, the Hydra whipped toward it with all its heads, hissing and baring its teeth.**

**The good news: Tyson was momentarily out of danger. The bad news: I was about to be melted into a puddle of goo.**

"Quit saying stuff like that!" Poseidon and Sally yelled.

**One of the heads snapped at me experimentally. Without thinking, I swung my sword.**

**"No!" Annabeth yelled.**

**Too late. I sliced the Hydra's head clean off. It rolled away into the grass, leaving a flailing stump, which immediately stopped bleeding and began to swell like a balloon.**

**In a matter of seconds the wounded neck split into two necks, each of which grew a full-size head. Now I was looking at an eight-headed Hydra.**

**"Percy!" Annabeth scolded. "You just opened another Monster Donut shop somewhere!"**

**I dodged a spray of acid. "I'm about to die and you're worried about that? How do we kill it?"**

A few people chuckled.

**"Fire!" Annabeth said. "We have to have fire!"**

**As soon as she said that, I remembered the story. The Hydra's heads would only stop multiplying if we burned the stumps before they regrew. That's what Heracles had done, anyway. But we had no fire.**

**I backed up toward river. The Hydra followed.**

**Annabeth moved in on my left and tried to distract one of the heads, parrying its teeth with her knife, but another head swung sideways like a club and knocked her into the muck.**

Athena gasped.

**"No hitting my friends!" Tyson charged in, putting himself between the Hydra and Annabeth. As Annabeth got to her feet, Tyson started smashing at the monster heads with his fists so fast it reminded me of the whack-a-mole game at the arcade. But even Tyson couldn't fend off the Hydra forever.**

"Thank you Tyson" Athena said.

**We kept inching backward, dodging acid splashes and deflecting snapping heads without cutting them off, but I knew we were only postponing our deaths. Eventually, we would make a mistake and the thing would kill us.**

Poseidon looked ready to faint.

**Then I heard a strange sound-a chug-chug-chug that at first I thought was my heartbeat. It was so powerful it made the riverbank shake.**

**"What's that noise?" Annabeth shouted, keeping her eyes on the Hydra.**

**"Steam engine," Tyson said.**

"How'd he know that?" someone asked.

**"What?" I ducked as the Hydra spat acid over my head.**

**Then from the river behind us, a familiar female voice shouted: "There! Prepare the thirty-two-pounder!"**

"Me" Clarisse said.

"Oh" a few peopel said/

**I didn't dare look away from the Hydra, but if that was who I thought it was behind us, I figured we now had enemies on two fronts.**

**A gravelly male voice said, "They're too close, m'lady!"**

**"Damn the heroes!" the girl said. "Full steam ahead!"**

**"Aye, m'lady."**

**"Fire at will, Captain!"**

**Annabeth understood what was happening a split second before I did. She yelled, "Hit the dirt!" and we dove for the ground as an earth-shattering BOOM echoed from the river. There was a flash of light, a column of smoke, and the Hydra exploded right in front of us, showering us with nasty green slime that vaporized as soon as it hit, the way monster guts tend to do.**

Everyone cheered.

"Pecy, Annabeth and Tyson live to see another day!" Apollo said in a announcing voice.

**"Gross!" screamed Annabeth.**

**"Steamship!" yelled Tyson.**

**I stood, coughing from the cloud of gunpowder smoke that was rolling across the banks.**

**Chugging toward us down the river was the strangest ship I'd ever seen. It rode low in the water like a submarine, its deck plated with iron. In the middle was a trapezoid-shaped casemate with slats on each side for cannons. A flag waved from the top-a wild boar and spear on a bloodred field. Lining the deck were zombies in gray uniforms- dead soldiers with shimmering faces that only partially covered their skulls, like the ghouls I'd seen in the Underworld guarding Hades's palace.**

**The ship was an ironclad. A Civil War battle cruiser. I could just make out the name along the prow in moss-covered letters: CSS Birmingham.**

**And standing next to the smoking cannon that had almost killed us, wearing full Greek battle armor, was Clarisse.**

**"Losers," she sneered. "But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come aboard."**

"Nice Clarisse" Thalia said.

Clarisse shrugged.

"Who's next?" Lee asked.

"Me!" Will said.

Lee handed the book to his half-brother.

"I think we'll read 3 more chapters before bed" Hera said.

"Bed" Percy J and Annabeth C. said wistfully.

* * *

**i hope that one wasn't too bad:) **

**guys i am open to any suggestions btw! i got a really good one from drpend! i try to use all ideas:)**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	13. Clarisse Blows Up Everything

**okay so if you're reading my other storie then just to let you all know...im not gonna be updating them till this book is finished and i have 3 chapters in the titan's curse done! kay? i know you're all mad becaus eof my HUGE cliffhanger but I hope you'll forgive me...maybe:^) i would've had this chapter up earlier but we're moving soon so my mom wanted me to pick out a new bed set...then when we got home after like 3 hours i wanted to get my veggie plants into peat pots because im doing a community garden at my church and im transplanting so i had to get them started...sorry.**

**ill make you all a deal? i will NOT sleep until this story is finished! kay:) i will finish this story in the next week or my name isn't PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase!**

**any-who...reviewer answers!**

**Kireeofolympus:**UPDATE! I'm OBSESSED! With your story! Please update! Please, please, PLEASE! Pretty please with a chocolate drakon on top! I love your stories and the latest chapter on Our Families Are What! Update all of your stories please!  
kireeofolympus  
(P.S. guest who said reported. Why did you report this story? PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase has done nothing wrong! Don't be hating on my sisters story!)  
**~chocolate drakon? sounds good:D do they eat drakon...hmmmmmmm i updated:) lol this is what i say to those who report me f***k off! i love how they don't report me until the most recent chapter...i think people read it don't like a character or something i did in the story and report m but that's just me! lol...was this answer mostly babble?**

**PercabethAddiction:**Do you plan on doing the rest of the PJO series? I ask because I love your writing and always excited for your next update.  
**~i AM doing the rest of the series...i am also doing HoO and i am going to finish up to MoA before HoH comes out in August...i'll help Riordan by keeping you all at bay until HoH comes out:) he does need to hurry though so i can find out if i need to get the army ready for batle *smirks evily* eh em...sorry btw does anyione think i can do it?finish the rest of the books before HoH? again...babbling sorry**

**kireofolympus(yes i know she all ready had one! shut up!) :**Yayyyyyyy! I have two new sisters! * gives you and percabethluvrknowsall a virtual hug* Thanks for answering my questions! I have two questions, and a suggestion. My first question is when will we see what Percy got Annabeth for Christmas? The waiting is killing me! My second question is, will there be more thalico? I think that Nico and Thalia are a good match. And you write fluff really well! My suggestion is, when you do the Christmas chapter, you should have a little more fluff, and have each person get a magic item from their parents. Nothing huge just a small gift. As always you did a great job in this chapter and update soon!  
kireeofolympus  
(P.S. I live in Florida and my favorite character is either defiantly Annabeth and percy!and Leo, the stoll brothers, Thalia, and of course Nico!)  
**~*hugs her back* you will not see what percy got annabeth until the titan's curse *smiles eviliy* yes there will be thalico:) i love them! oh thank you:) that is a good suggestion sis:) i have to change my answer cause i forgot about HoO characters...my favorite characters (demigods) are percy, annabeth, luke, jason, piper, leo, nico, thalia, travis, & connor**

**SusieCJ:**I can't wait for the next chapter! This story is so amazing :D. My little cousin has a FFN account and she's a beta. I can talk to her or you can't talk to her, if you want :). Amazing chapter, as always. I can't wait to see how everyone reacts to the whole Clarisse/Ares thing in the next chapter. I just hope you don't underplay it like so many other people do :).  
BYEEEEE!  
Peace and Lurve,  
Susie :)  
**~here's the next chapter:) im glad you like it...that would be awesome! omg really?! i hope i didn't underplay it cause i really think he should be punished for that...**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**Clarisse blows up everything, **Will read.

"BOOM!" Tyson shouted gleefully.

Everyone laughed as Tyson blushed.

Ares couldn't say anything because he was in his room.

**"You are in so much trouble," Clarisse said.**

**We'd just finished a ship tour we didn't want, **

"You think I cared?" Clarisse asked.

"No" Percy said.

"Good" Clarisse said,

**through dark rooms overcrowded with dead sailors. We'd seen the coal bunker, the boilers and engine, which huffed and groaned like it would explode any minute. We'd seen the pilothouse and the powder magazine and gunnery deck (Clarisse's favorite) with two Dahlgren smoothbore cannons on the port and starboard sides and a Brooke nine-inch rifled gun fore and aft-all specially refitted to fire celestial bronze cannon balls.**

"Nice" Thalia said.

"Cool!" Leo said,

**Everywhere we went, dead Confederate sailors stared at us, their ghostly bearded faces shimmering over their skulls. They approved of Annabeth because she told them she was from Virginia. They were interested in me, too, because my name was Jackson-like the Southern general-but then I ruined it by telling them I was from New York. They all hissed and muttered curses about Yankees.**

**Tyson was terrified of them. All through the tour, he insisted Annabeth hold his hand, which she didn't look too thrilled about.**

Tyson blushed.

"I wanted her to hold my hand!" Percy whined.

Annabeth laughed and took his hand.

"Happy?" Annabeth asked.

Percy shook his head.

Annabeth sighed.

She kissed him and he kissed her back.

Will cleared his throat and continued to read while Percy and Annabeth made out.

**Finally, we were escorted to dinner. The CSS Birmingham captain's quarters were about the size of a walk-in closet, but still much bigger than any other room on board. The table was set with white linen and china. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, and Dr Peppers were served by skeletal crewmen. I didn't want to eat anything served by ghosts, but my hunger overruled my fear.**

**"Tantalus expelled you for eternity," Clarisse told us smugly. "Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV."**

"You touch my son or Annabeth..." Poseidon let his threat hang in the air.

Dionysus nodded and gulped.

**"Did they give you this ship?" I asked.**

**"'Course not. My father did."**

"He did something good?" Hera asked "it would seem he is nice to his children."

The queen waved her hand and Ares showed up out of thin air on the couch next to Clarisse.

Just wait Hera...just wait.

**"Ares?"**

**Clarisse sneered. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won't you, Captain?"**

**The captain stood behind her looking stiff and angry.**

"I don't think he likes you" Hazel noted.

Clarisse shrugged.

"They owed Ares" she said.

**His glowing green eyes fixed me with a hungry stare. "If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. Destroy anyone."**

**Clarisse smiled. "Destroy anyone. I like that."**

"Sounds good" the Stolls said nodding their heads.

**Tyson gulped.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "Luke might be after the Fleece, too. We saw him. He's got the coordinates and he's heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters-"**

**"Good! I'll blow him out of the water."**

"She's defiantely yours Ares" Hera said.

"Frank isn't like that" Hazel said.

"He's a son of Mars...when he needs to fight he'll be a lot more violent than Clarissse is" Ares said flickering between a harsher version of himself.

Hazel looked at Frank praying they would never have to fight in a war so she wouldn't see his violent side.

**"You don't understand," Annabeth said. We have to combine forces. Let us help you-"**

**"No!" Clarisse pounded the table. "This is my quest, smart girl! Finally I get to be the hero, and you two will not steal my chance."**

"Yeah!" Ares said.

**"Where are your cabin mates?" I asked. "You were allowed to take two friends with you, weren't you?"**

**"They didn't … I let them stay behind. To protect the camp."**

"Protect camp" Ares nodded.

**"You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn't help you?"**

**"Shut up, Prissy! I don't need them! Or you!"**

"The irony" Annabeth said taking a break from kissing Percy.

"Well you'll never have to worry about Percy and Annabeth being friends" Travis said and everyone laughed.

**"Clarisse," I said, "Tantalus is using you. He doesn't care about the camp. He'd love to see it destroyed. He's setting you up to fail."**

**"No! I don't care what the Oracle-" She stopped herself.**

**"What?" I said. "What did the Oracle tell you?"**

Everyone leaned in.

**"Nothing." Clarisse's ears turned pink. "All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest and you're not helping. On the other hand, I can't let you go …"**

**"So we're prisoners?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Guests. For now." Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr Pepper. "Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies."**

"Enemy spies?" Paul asked.

Clarisse shrugged.

**The dream came as soon as I fell asleep.**

**Grover was sitting at his loom, desperately unraveling his wedding train, when the boulder door rolled aside and the Cyclops bellowed, "Aha!"**

"Uh-oh" everyone said.

Grover nodded.

**Grover yelped. "Dear! I didn't-you were so quiet!"**

**"Unraveling!" Polyphemus roared. "So that's the problem!"**

"You should've said that you made a mistake" Athena said.

Grover cursed.

**"Oh, no. I-I wasn't-"**

**"Come!" Polyphemus grabbed Grover around the waist and half carried, half dragged him through the tunnels of the cave. Grover struggled to keep his high heels on his hooves. His veil kept tilting on his head, threatening to come off.**

**The Cyclops pulled him into a warehouse-size cavern decorated with sheep junk. There was a wool-covered La-Z-Boy recliner and a wool-covered television set, crude bookshelves loaded with sheep collectibles-coffee mugs shaped like sheep faces, plaster figurines of sheep, sheep board games, and picture books and action figures. The floor was littered with piles of sheep bones, and other bones that didn't look exactly like sheep-the bones of satyrs who'd come to the island looking for Pan.**

Everyone looked grossed out.

**Polyphemus set Grover down only long enough to move another huge boulder. Daylight streamed into the cave, and Grover whimpered with longing. Fresh air!**

**The Cyclops dragged him outside to a hilltop overlooking the most beautiful island I'd ever seen.**

**It was shaped kind of like a saddle cut in half by an ax. There were lush green hills on either side and a wide valley in the middle, split by a deep chasm that was spanned by a rope bridge. Beautiful streams rolled to the edge of the canyon and dropped off in rainbow-colored waterfalls. Parrots fluttered in the trees. Pink and purple flowers bloomed on the bushes. Hundreds of sheep grazed in the meadows, their wool glinting strangely like copper and silver coins.**

"It sounds beautiful for a cyclopes island" Katie said.

"Which is why Percy is gonna take the fleece and the place will look horrible" Travis told her and kissed her head.

Katie stifled a yawn and leaned into Travis further.

Travis layed his head on her head.

Aphrodite squeled and Demeter smiled.

**And at the center of the island, right next to the rope bridge, was an enormous twisted oak tree with something glittering in its lowest bough.**

**The Golden Fleece.**

**Even in a dream, I could feel its power radiating across the island, making the grass greener, the flowers more beautiful. I could almost smell the nature magic at work. I could only imagine how powerful the scent would be for a satyr.**

**Grover whimpered.**

**"Yes," Polyphemus said proudly. "See over there? Fleece is the prize of my collection! Stole it from heroes long ago, and ever since-free food! Satyrs come from all over the world, like moths to flame. Satyrs good eating! And now-"**

**Polyphemus scooped up a wicked set of bronze shears.**

You could hear the intake of breath by everyone.

**Grover yelped, but Polyphemus just picked up the nearest sheep like it was a stuffed animal and shaved off its wool. He handed a fluffy mass of it to Grover.**

"Oh thank gods!" Aphrodite said "I was afraid he was gonna kill him and that would ruin my plan!"

"Plan?" Grover asked.

"To find you a girlfriend!" Aphrodite said.

"Oh" Grover said.

**"Put that on the spinning wheel!" he said proudly. "Magic. Cannot be unraveled."**

**"Oh … well …"**

**"Poor Honeypie!" Polyphemus grinned. "Bad weaver. Ha-ha! Not to worry. That thread will solve problem. Finish wedding train by tomorrow!"**

**"Isn't that … thoughtful of you!"**

**"Hehe."**

**"But-but, dear," Grover gulped, "what if someone were to rescue-I mean attack this island?" Grover looked straight at me, and I knew he was asking for my benefit. "What would keep them from marching right up here to your cave?"**

"Totally the sheep" Apollo said sarcastically.

**"Wifey scared! So cute! Not to worry. Polyphemus has state-of-the-art security system. Have to get through my pets."**

**"Pets?"**

**Grover looked across the island, but there was nothing to see except sheep grazing peacefully in the meadows.**

"Evil sheep "Percy said and he got a bunch of weird looks before he went back to playing with Annabeth's hair as she giggled and they talked about how these books would be the death of their parents and Hermes for that matter.

"Are they always like this?" Luke asked.

"Yes" Thalia, Nico, Connor, Travis, Will, Rachel, and Katie said.

**"And then," Polyphemus growled, "they would have to get through me!"**

**He pounded his fist against the nearest rock, which cracked and split in half. "Now, come!" he shouted. "Back to the cave."**

**Grover looked about ready to cry-so close to freedom, but so hopelessly far. Tears welled in his eyes as the boulder door rolled shut, sealing him once again in the stinky torch-lit dankness of the Cyclops's cave.**

**I woke to alarm bells ringing throughout the ship.**

**The captain's gravelly voice: "All hands on deck! Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?"**

**Then his ghostly face appeared above me. "Get up, Yankee. Your friends are already above. We are approaching the entrance."**

**"The entrance to what?"**

"Really Kelp Head?" Thalia asked.

"I just woke up!" Percy J. protested seeing as though the younger Percy was a little...occupied?

**He gave me a skeletal smile. "The Sea of Monsters, of course."**

**I stuffed my few belongings that had survived the Hydra into a sailor's canvas knapsack and slung it over my shoulder. I had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another I would not be spending another night aboard the CSS Birmingham.**

**I was on my way upstairs when something made me freeze. A presence nearby-something familiar and unpleasant. For no particular reason, I felt like picking a fight. I wanted to punch a dead Confederate. The last time I'd felt like that kind of anger …**

**Instead of going up, I crept to the edge of the ventilation grate and peered down into the boiler deck.**

Clarisse lost the smile she had.

"You saw that?" she asked her voice...small?

Percy J. nodded.

"Oh Gods" Clarisse said.

**Clarisse was standing right below me, talking to an image that shimmered in the steam from the boilers-a muscular man in black leather biker clothes, with a military haircut, red-tinted sunglasses, and a knife strapped to his side.**

"Ares" everyone said.

**My fists clenched. It was my least favorite Olympian: Ares, the god of war. (mine too :6)**

**"I don't want excuses, little girl!" he growled.**

"Little girl?" a few people asked.

**"Y-yes, father," Clarisse mumbled.**

**"You don't want to see me mad, do you?"**

**"No, father."**

**"No, father," Ares mimicked. "You're pathetic. I should've let one of my sons take this quest."**

Both Hera and Aphrodite were looking at Ares...

**"I'll succeed!" Clarisse promised, her voice trembling. "I'll make you proud."**

"You did" Chris whispered to her.

Clarisse nodded...she didn't want people to hear about this.

**"You'd better," he warned. "You asked me for this quest, girl. If you let that slimeball Jackson kid steal it from you-"**

**"But the Oracle said-"**

**"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT SAID!" Ares bellowed with such force that his image shimmered. "You will succeed. And if you don't …"**

**He raised his fist. Even though he was only a figure in the steam, Clarisse flinched.**

Everyone gasped.

Clarisse flinched.

"WHAT?!" Hera screeched.

"That was my ear dear!" Zeus yelled.

Hera ignored him.

"I hope that the book is lying!" Hera said and got up and crouched in front of Clarisse.

"Clarisse? Has Ares ever, and I mean EVER, hit you or threatened to hit you and is what's in the book true?" her voice sounded like that of a mother soothing her scared child.

Clarisse looked at Ares who was looking down then to Chris who was still holding her hand.

She nodded slightly, embarassed.

Hera stood up.

She stalked over to Ares and took him by the shirt outside.

Withing a second Hera was screaming at Ares.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THAT ARES! HOW DARE YOU TREAT A CHILD LIKE THAT?! SHE IS YOUR DAUGHTER! SHE IS A HERO WHO IS TRYING TO PROTECT THE PLACE SHE CALLS HOME!"

Clarisse was embarassed as people began to look at her.

Frank was disgusted that his father would do that.

Aphrodite was asking herself what she ever could have seen in him.

Chris was ready to murder Ares with his bare hands.

"ZEUS! GET OUT HERE!" Hera yelled and Zeus went out to his wife.

Everyone heard talking but couldn't make anything out.

After a few minutes the Queen and King of Olympus came in.

"Well..." Hera said and sat down again with Zeus "Ares is grounded to Tarturas until we are done reading the books then he will be stripped of his immortality until he has learned to be a nicer person...any Olympian object?"

Every Olympian shook their heads.

Clarisse even nodded.

**"Do we understand each other?" Ares growled.**

**The alarm bells rang again. I heard voices coming toward me, officers yelling orders to ready the cannons.**

**I crept back from the ventilation grate and made my way upstairs to join Annabeth and Tyson on the spar deck.**

**"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked me. "Another dream?"**

"That's why you looked like that" Annabeth said, her and Percy were scared apart when Hera screamed the first time.

**I nodded, but I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to think about what I'd seen downstairs. It bothered me almost as much as the dream about Grover.**

Clarisse might've smiled.

**Clarisse came up the stairs right after me. I tried not to look at her.**

"Tried being the key word" Annabeth said.

**She grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer and peered toward the horizon. "At last. Captain, full steam ahead!"**

**I looked in the same direction as she was, but I couldn't see much. The sky was overcast. The air was hazy and humid, like steam from an iron. If I squinted real hard, I could just make out a couple of dark fuzzy splotches in the distance.**

**My nautical senses told me we were somewhere off the coast of northern Florida, so we'd come a long way overnight, farther than any mortal ship should've been able to travel.**

**The engine groaned as we increased speed.**

"That does not sound good" Bekendorf, Leo and Hephaestus said.

**Tyson muttered nervously, "Too much strain on the pistons. Not meant for deep water."**

"He's right" Poseidon said.

**I wasn't sure how he knew that, but it made me nervous.**

**After a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of us came into focus. To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea-an island with cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.**

**"Hurricane?" Annabeth asked.**

**"No," Clarisse said. "Charybdis."**

"Are you crazy?" Piper asked.

"No I'm a Daughter of the War God...I have no fear" Clarisse said.

"She's right there" Percy said and everyone looked at him.

"I've seen her charge a drakon without armor or any form of protection and beat it single handlely in less than a minute" Percy explained.

**Annabeth paled. "Are you crazy?"**

**"Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla." Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs, and I got the feeling something lived up there that I did not want to meet.**

**"What do you mean the only way?" I asked. "The sea is wide open! Just sail around them."**

"You can't" Jason said.

"How do you know?" Piper asked.

"I've been to the Sea of Monsters on a quest" Jason explained.

"For what?" Piper asked.

"Tell you later" Jason promised and pulled Piper closer to him and she leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder.

He kissed her head as she yawned.

**Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Don't you know anything? If I tried to sail around them, they would just appear in my path again. If you want to get into the Sea of Monsters, you have to sail through them."**

**"What about the Clashing Rocks?" Annabeth said. "That's another gateway. Jason used it."**

"The first Jason Leo" Jason said because Leo had a questioning look on his face.

**"I can't blow apart rocks with my cannons," Clarisse said. "Monsters, on the other hand …"**

**"You are crazy," Annabeth decided.**

**"Watch and learn, Wise Girl." Clarisse turned to the captain. "Set course for Charybdis!"**

**"Aye, m'lady."**

**The engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed.**

**"Clarisse," I said, "Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn't that the story?"**

**"And spits it back out again, yeah."**

**"What about Scylla?"**

**"She lives in a cave, up on those cliffs. If we get too close, her snaky heads will come down and start plucking sailors off the ship."**

"Both are bad" Hades said.

"Odysseus lost a lot of men to Scylla and Charybdis" Athena said.

**"Choose Scylla then," I said. "Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."**

**"No!" Clarisse insisted. "If Scylla doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship. Besides, she's too high to make a good target. My cannons can't shoot straight up. Charybdis just sits there at the center of her whirlwind. We're going to steam straight toward her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!"**

**She said it with such relish I almost wanted to believe her.**

**The engine hummed. The boilers were heating up so much I could feel the deck getting warm beneath my feet. The smokestacks billowed. The red Ares flag whipped in the wind.**

**As we got closer to the monsters, the sound of Charybdis got louder and louder-a horrible wet roar like the galaxy's biggest toilet being flushed. Every time Charybdis inhaled, the ship shuddered and lurched forward. Every time she exhaled, we rose in the water and were buffeted by ten-foot waves.**

**I tried to time the whirlpool. As near as I could figure, it took Charybdis about three minutes to suck up and destroy everything within a half-mile radius. To avoid her, we would have to skirt right next to Scylla's cliffs. And as bad as Scylla might be, those cliffs were looking awfully good to me.**

**Undead sailors calmly went about their business on the spar deck. I guess they'd fought a losing cause before, so this didn't bother them. Or maybe they didn't care about getting destroyed because they were already deceased. Neither thought made me feel any better.**

**Annabeth stood next to me, gripping the rail. "You still have your thermos full of wind?"**

**I nodded. "But it's too dangerous to use with a whirlpool like that. More wind might just make things worse."**

**"What about controlling the water?" she asked. "You're Poseidon's son. You've done it before."**

"Not there" Poseidon said.

**She was right. I closed my eyes and tried to calm the sea, but I couldn't concentrate. Charybdis was too loud and powerful. The waves wouldn't respond.**

**"I-I can't," I said miserably.**

"That sucks" Apollo said.

Athena and Poseidon looked terrible.

**"We need a backup plan," Annabeth said. "This isn't going to work."**

**"Annabeth is right," Tyson said. "Engine's no good."**

**"What do you mean?" she asked.**

**"Pressure. Pistons need fixing."**

**Before he could explain, the cosmic toilet flushed with a mighty roaaar! The ship lurched forward and I was thrown to the deck. We were in the whirlpool.**

**"Full reverse!" Clarisse screamed above the noise. The sea churned around us, waves crashing over the deck. The iron plating was now so hot it steamed. "Get us within firing range! Make ready starboard cannons!"**

**Dead Confederates rushed back and forth. The propeller grinded into reverse, trying to slow the ship, but we kept sliding toward the center of the vortex.**

**A zombie sailor burst out of the hold and ran to Clarisse. His gray uniform was smoking. His beard was on fire. "Boiler room overheating, ma'am! She's going to blow!"**

"Not good" Tyson said.

**"Well, get down there and fix it!"**

**"Can't!" the sailor yelled. "We're vaporizing in the heat."**

**Clarisse pounded the side of the casemate. "All I need is a few more minutes! Just enough to get in range!"**

**"We're going in too fast," the captain said grimly. "Prepare yourself for death."**

"Optimistic" Persephone said.

**"No!" Tyson bellowed. "I can fix it."**

**Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "You?"**

**"He's a Cyclops," Annabeth said. "He's immune to fire. And he knows mechanics."**

**"Go!" yelled Clarisse.**

**"Tyson, no!" I grabbed his arm. "It's too dangerous!"**

Percy looked down , not wanting to hear what happened after this.

**He patted my hand. "Only way, brother." His expression was determined-confident, even. I'd never seen him look like this before. "I will fix it. Be right back."**

**As I watched him follow the smoldering sailor down the hatch, I had a terrible feeling. I wanted to run after him, but the ship lurched again-and then I saw Charybdis"**

"Not a pretty sight that I can't forget" Percy said.

Annabeth C. yawned and Percy J. put his arm around her as she drifted off into sleep.

He kissed her head softly.

**She appeared only a few hundred yards away, through a swirl of mist and smoke and water. The first thing I noticed was the reef-a black crag of coral with a fig tree clinging to the top, an oddly peaceful thing in the middle of a maelstrom. All around it, water curved into a funnel, like light around a black hole. Then I saw the horrible thing anchored to the reef just below the waterline-an enormous mouth with slimy lips and mossy teeth the size of rowboats. And worse, the teeth had braces, bands of corroded scummy metal with pieces of fish and driftwood and floating garbage stuck between them.**

Aphrodite gagged.

Everyone else looked ready to vomit.

**Charybdis was an orthodontist's nightmare. She was nothing but a huge black maw with bad teeth alignment and a serious overbite, and she'd done nothing for centuries but eat without brushing after meals. As I watched, the entire sea around her was sucked into the void-sharks, schools of fish, a giant squid. And I realized that in a few seconds, the CSS Birmingham would be next.**

"Nice observation" Nico noted.

**"Lady Clarisse," the captain shouted. "Starboard and forward guns are in range!"**

**"Fire!" Clarisse ordered.**

**Three rounds were blasted into the monster's maw. One blew off the edge of an incisor. Another disappeared into her gullet. The third hit one of Charybdis's retaining bands and shot back at us, snapping the Ares flag off its pole.**

**"Again!" Clarisse ordered. The gunners reloaded, but I knew it was hopeless. We would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, and we didn't have that long. We were being sucked in too fast.**

**Then the vibrations in the deck changed. The hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. The ship shuddered and we started pulling away from the mouth.**

Everyone cheered.

"Thank gods" a few said.

**"Tyson did it!" Annabeth said.**

**"Wait!" Clarisse said. "We need to stay close!"**

**"We'll die!" I said. "We have to move away."**

**I gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction. The broken Ares flag raced past us and lodged in Charybdis's braces. We weren't making much progress, but at least we were holding our own. Tyson had somehow given us just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked in.**

**Suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. The sea died to absolute calm. Water washed over Charybdis.**

**Then, just as quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a wall of water, ejecting everything inedible, including our cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS Birmingham with a ding like the bell on a carnival game.**

**We were thrown backward on a wave that must've been forty feet high. I used all of my willpower to keep the ship from capsizing, but we were still spinning out of control, hurtling toward the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.**

**Another smoldering sailor burst out of the hold. He stumbled into Clarisse, almost knocking them both overboard. "The engine is about to blow!"**

**"Where's Tyson?" I demanded.**

**"Still down there," the sailor said. "Holding it together somehow, though I don't know for how much longer."**

Poseidon paled.

**The captain said, "We have to abandon ship."**

**"No!" Clarisse yelled.**

**"We have no choice, m'lady. The hull is already cracking apart! She can't-"**

**He never finished his sentence. Quick as lightning, something brown and green shot from the sky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. All that was left were his leather boots.**

Everyone cursed.

**"Scylla!" a sailor yelled, as another column of reptilian flesh shot from the cliffs and snapped him up. It happened so fast it was like watching a laser beam rather than a monster. I couldn't even make out the thing's face, just a flash of teeth and scales.**

**I uncapped Riptide and tried to swipe at the monster as it carried off another deckhand, but I was way too slow.**

**"Everyone get below!" I yelled.**

**"We can't!" Clarisse drew her own sword. "Below deck is in flames."**

**"Lifeboats!" Annabeth said. "Quick!"**

**"They'll never get clear of the cliffs," Clarisse said. "We'll all be eaten."**

**"We have to try. Percy, the thermos."**

**"I can't leave Tyson!"**

**"We have to get the boats ready!"**

**Clarisse took Annabeth's command. She and a few of her undead sailors uncovered one of the two emergency rowboats while Scylla's heads rained from the sky like a meteor shower with teeth, picking off Confederate sailors one after another.**

**"Get the other boat." I threw Annabeth the thermos. "I'll get Tyson."**

**"You can't!" she said. "The heat will kill you!"**

**I didn't listen. I ran for the boiler room hatch, when suddenly my feet weren't touching the deck anymore. I was flying straight up, the wind whistling in my ears, the side of the cliff only inches from my face.**

"NO!" Poseidon and Sally yelled.

"She got him?" Hermes asked.

"You can't take the hero!" Rachel said.

**Scylla had somehow caught me by the knapsack, and was lifting me up toward her lair. Without thinking, I swung my sword behind me and managed to jab the thing in her beady yellow eye. She grunted and dropped me.**

**The fall would've been bad enough, considering I was a hundred feet in the air. But as I fell, the CSS Birmingham exploded below me.**

**KAROOM!**

"Tyson!" Poseidon yelled.

Percy looked bad.

Posiedon looked ready to...cry.

Athena was trying her hardest to soothe the God of the Seas.

Annabeth was comforting Percy by whispering comforting words to him and holding his hand.

**The engine room blew, sending chunks of ironclad flying in either direction like a fiery set of wings.**

**"Tyson!" I yelled.**

**The lifeboats had managed to get away from the ship, but not very far. Flaming wreckage was raining down. Clarisse and Annabeth would either be smashed or burned or pulled to the bottom by the force of the sinking hull, and that was thinking optimistically, assuming they got away from Scylla.**

**Then I heard a different kind of explosion-the sound of Hermes's magic thermos being opened a little too far. White sheets of wind blasted in every direction, scattering the lifeboats, lifting me out of my free fall and propelling me across the ocean.**

**I couldn't see anything. I spun in the air, got clonked on the head by something hard, and hit the water with a crash that would've broken every bone in my body if I hadn't been the son of the Sea God.**

**The last thing I remembered was sinking in a burning sea, knowing that Tyson was gone forever, and wishing I were able to drown.**

"That was depressing" Will said.

Poseidon and Percy both weren't happy.

Tyson looked down.

"I wanna read next" Sally said.

Will passed the book to Sally.

* * *

**poor tyson...hehe ares! serves you right to be a terrible father!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnaethChase~**


	14. We Check Into CC's Spa and Resort

**Hey everyone! here's the next chapter!:D **

**I HAVE to shoutout to someone! The First Maraudette! *WILD applause!***

**she is my new beta! I did get a beta to help me edit the story:) thank you so much! i seriously love you!**

**hey everyone:) so i wanted to say something...**

**i found a song/video:) it's Gold by Britt Nicole:) it really speaks to everyone. she sings about how everyone is a king or a queen and is perfect and nobody should have the right to hurt you...in the music video you see forms of bullying and what people do when they get to that one point...on of the girls cut themselves and another was balemic...it just goes to show what bullying can do to a person:( i've been through it and it made me stronger:) but if anyone ever needs to talk to some one they can trust about anything then you could pm me:) i don't tell people anything i hear:) i listent o everyone and i don't judge:) i had someone pm about what i shared in my bio about my tough time and they offered to let me vent about anything and now im offering it to anyone who needs it...if you ever want to vent about someone or something im here just pm me:)**

**reviewer answers**

**Kireeofolympus:**SERVES ARES RIGHT! He is by far my LEAST favorite god! I used to dislike Hera too, but now I like her a LOT more! That was sooooo good! Please update soon! And I'm glad you like my suggestions! FUDGE OFF GUEST! I loved how you made clarisse sound good, most people make her the bad guy/girl but she's just misunderstood! Thanks for updating! And ummm please don't stay up for that long! I stayed up for 5 days straight(long story... Don't ask!) and trust me! NOT FUN! I have a shout out to the characters to!  
**Athena**: HI MOM! Kat says hi too! (Kat is one of my friends who doesn't read fanfics! She's a daughter of Athena too!)  
**Poseidon**: hi! my friend remi who is one of your kids says hi too!  
**Ares**: HA!SERVES YOU RIGHT!  
**Hera**: GOOD JOB! Thanks for helping clarisse!  
**Clarisse**: sorry about your dad being mean to you! Another one of my friends, Jake, who is you brother says hi to you as well!  
**Percabeth:(**from thalico NOT ME! they just told me to tell you this!) GET A ROOM! Thanks!  
kireeofolympus  
(P.s. Kat says hi to you too! She's happy that she has a new sister!)  
~ really don't like Ares and i wanted hera to get on the good side of the demigods seeing as though she's gonna turn into a bit h later on...i hate making people look bad...except Ares...that's why im working hard for luke to be seen as a good guy...i can't seem to sleep anyway:) i had 4 and a half last night...lol...  
**Athena:** Hello Kireeofolympus:) Tell Kat I said hello back:)  
**Poseidon:**Hello Daughter of Athena...Hello Remi:) I haven't heard from you in a while  
**Ares:** *From Tarturas* SHUT UP YOU PUNY MORTAL OR I WILL...  
**Hera: **ARES! you are grounded! shut up! why thank you:) I try to help children  
**Clarisse:**Eventually you get used to it *smiles sadly* tell Jake I said ahi and to get his butt to Camp!  
**Percabeth:** Thalia and Nico! Shall we tell everyone about that night in Hades cabin...Seems like Thalico is true:D  
*Aphrodite squeles Thalico!*  
**Hi Kat! *gives her a virual hug***

**PJO Obssesed:**This is great! Keep it up! Woohoo! Please update soon oh and are you ever gonna have people figure out that percy and Annabeth are in... The "t word"? Still can't bring myself to admit where they are. I'm in denial. Please keep being a great author! Keep writing your good at it!  
**~I think we're all in denial :( why would rick do that to us!?**

**SusieCJ:**That was perfect! You're the first author who has ever done it properly! I don't understand, everybody flips the fack (spelled that way on purpose) out when they read about A-Hole Gabe but when they read about Ares they're all like, "Oh, okay then. You're a daughter of Ares, we can't be sorry for you" which is just really unfair! I hate it when they do that, specially since Clarisse is one of my favorite characters! I'm not saying they shouldn't flip out about Gabe but both Percy and Clarisse were supposedly abused. One of my best friends was abused. It was awful. We were neighbors and I've known him for years. He used to hide at my house because of his dad. It got even worse when he came out of the closet. Nobody deserves that, nobody! Ares got what he deserves!

Gods, I sure went on a little rant there. Sorry 'bout that! #irresistable smiley face :).

So, anyways. I loved the chapter :D. I asked my cousin to PM you about the beta-Ing thing, so you can see if you like her and want her as a beta. Her name's Jenny and her username is The First Maaudette (don't ask...xP). So yeah, I'm probably boring you with this huge-a$$ review so I guess I'll stop bothering you now :).  
BYEEEEEEEE.  
Peace and Lurve,  
Susie :).  
**~I'm glad you thought it was okay:) I am so sorry about your friend:( that's terrible! it makes you wonder why hera isn't killing the people who do that D'8 i did talk to her about beta-ing and she beta-ed this chapter:) my reivewers don't bore me at all!**

**Percabethlvrknowsall**:I just spent five minutes running around my house screaming: "IT'S A MIRACLE!"  
**~that's awesome! lol! i do that when paradiseisland101 updates her stories LOL:)**

**Perseus Jackson Rules:**Good chapter. I agree with Ares's punishment. He is evil. Although I am surprised Artemis did not saying anything about a maiden being abused by a man. I do hope Aphrodite breaks up with him and goes back to her husband begging forgiveness.  
I lookded up the mythology of Charybdis and Scylla and in some myths they are children of Poseidon and Charydis's mother is Gaia. I read it on . com.  
I definitely fit as a son of Athena and I love hugs too. Can I have a virtual hug?  
Keep up the good work  
**~i forgot about artemis honestly...i would've had her do something but...i can tell where they got their loooks from *cough* gaia *cough* *Tackles him with a huge hug!* WELCOME TO THE ATHENIAN FAMILY! *gives him another hug!* i hope you've been to camp *gives him a knowingly look***

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"We check into C.C.'s spa and resort," **Sally read.

Percy groaned and Annabeth laughed.

"You looked so cute" Annabeth said.

"I'm not cute now?" Percy asked.

"No" Annabeth said.

Percy had a weird look on his face.

"You're literally irresistible" Annabeth said.

Percy smiled and put his arm around her.

"And you are the most beautiful woman to ever walk the Earth" Percy said.

Aphrodite didn't even say anything...she was to busy awwing.

Percy kissed Annabeth.

**I woke up in a rowboat with a makeshift sail stitched of gray uniform fabric. Annabeth sat next to me, tacking into the wind.**

**I tried to sit up and immediately felt woozy.**

"Of course...you were just in range when a ship blew up" Thalia said.

**"Rest," she said. "You're going to need it."**

**"Tyson … ?"**

**She shook her head. "Percy, I'm really sorry."**

"I am okay Brother. Do not worry. I am here," Tyson said.

Percy smiled at his brother as the females in the room cooed.

**We were silent while the waves tossed us up and down.**

**"He may have survived," she said halfheartedly. "I mean, fire can't kill him."**

**I nodded, but I had no reason to feel hopeful. I'd seen that explosion rip through solid iron. If Tyson had been down in the boiler room, there was no way he could've lived.**

**He'd given his life for us, and all I could think about were the times I'd felt embarrassed by him and had denied that the two of us were related.**

"Sorry Tyson" Percy said.

"It is okay brother" Tyson said.

"You are too dang cute!" Aphrodite cooed.

Tyson blushed.

"Thank you."

**Waves lapped at the boat. Annabeth showed me some things she'd salvaged from the wreckage-Hermes's thermos (now empty),**

"That sucks" Hermes said.

**a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia, a couple of sailors' shirts, and a bottle of Dr Pepper. She'd fished me**

Nico laughed.

Everyone looked at him.

"Get it? He's a son of Poseidon and Annabeth FISHEDhim out of the water?"

A few people face-palmed while the rest shook their heads and laughed.

**out of the water and found my knapsack, bitten in half by Scylla's teeth. Most of my stuff had floated away, but I still had Hermes's bottle of multivitamins,**

"Good thing" Annabeth said.

Percy grumbled something about a guinea pig.

Annabeth laughed but the laugh turned into a huge yawn.

Percy adjusted himself a bit so Annabeth could lay more comfortably.

She placed her head on his chest and Percy stroked her hair as she dozed off with heavy eyelids.

Everyone looked tired, except for Leo, Connor and Travis.

"Um...Where did Travis go?" Katie asked, waking up after she fell asleep.

Everyone looked around but couldn't find the Son of Hermes.

Then, all of a sudden, they heard someone shout...

"BOO!" right behind Nico.

Nico jumped up and literally leapt onto Thalia's lap.

Travis appeared from behind the couch Nico was sitting.

Travis laughed.

"That was _amazing!_" he said and laughed more.

Eventually everyone laughed so hard they had to hold onto their sides.

Nico, still on Thalia's lap, glared at him.

"Not cool man! Not cool!" he said.

Thalia cleared her throat.

Nico looked at her and his face went deep tomato red as he scrambled off of her.

Thalia's face was tinged with pink.

Everyone laughed harder.

Nico sat back down in his seat next to Thalia.

He made sure to keep an eye on the Stolls.

Travis slipped into his seat again and Katie got comfortable.

She laid her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.

She fought the drowsiness and tried to keep her eyes open.

Sally continued to read after a yawn of her own.

**and of course I had Riptide. The ballpoint pen always appeared back in my pocket no matter where I lost it.**

**We sailed for hours. Now that we were in the Sea of Monsters, the water glittered a more brilliant green, like Hydra acid. The wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a strange metallic scent, too-as if a thunderstorm were coming. Or something even more dangerous. I knew what direction we needed to go. I knew we were exactly one hundred thirteen nautical miles west by northwest of our destination. But that didn't make me feel any less lost.**

**No matter which way we turned, the sun seemed to shine straight into my eyes. We took turns sipping from the Dr Pepper, shading ourselves with the sail as best we could. And we talked about my latest dream of Grover.**

**By Annabeth's estimate, we had less than twenty-four hours to find Grover, assuming my dream was accurate, and assuming the Cyclops Polyphemus didn't change his mind and try to marry Grover earlier.**

"Glad he didn't" Grover said and yawned.

Hera looked around at everyone.

Apollo had an arm propped up on the arm of the chair and he had his head in the hand, he had his eyes closed and was snoring softly.

Poseidon was fighting to keep his eyes open as they read about his son going into the Sea of Monsters. Athena had her eyes closed and her head was lying on Poseidon's chest.

Silena had actually fallen asleep on Beckendorf's shoulder as he leaned into the edge of the couch and fell asleep.

Hermes and Artemis were sound asleep.

Rachel had moved to the floor with her back to a couch, there she pulled her knees closer and rested her head on them as she barely kept her eyes open and yawned a few times.

Piper had drifted off against Jason. He had his arm around her and she had her head on his shoulder.

Aphrodite was still awake only to watch Percy and Annabeth.

Percy was still stroking Annabeth's hair as she softly slept. He would occasionally reach down and kiss her softly when he thought no one was looking.

Annabeth C. was sound asleep laying on Percy J. as he slept too, his arm around her shoulder and her head was resting on his chest.

Leo was still bouncing in his seat; everyone else had those looks of tiredness on their faces and were yawning.

Hazel and Frank were still awake.

"Let's go to bed once this chapter is finished" Hera told the ones awake.

They nodded.

**"Yeah," I said bitterly. "You can never trust a Cyclops."**

**Annabeth stared across the water. "I'm sorry, Percy. I was wrong about Tyson, okay? I wish I could tell him that."**

"She did" Percy said and stifled a yawn.

**I tried to stay mad at her, but it wasn't easy. We'd been through a lot together. She'd saved my life plenty of times. It was stupid of me to resent her.**

"That's wasn't the only reason" Thalia smirked with tired eyes.

"Maybe" Percy blushed.

**I looked down at our measly possessions-the empty wind thermos, the bottle of multivitamins. I thought about Luke's look of rage when I'd tried to talk to him about his dad.**

**"Annabeth, what's Chiron's prophecy?"**

**She pursed her lips. "Percy, I shouldn't-"**

**"I know Chiron promised the gods he wouldn't tell me. But you didn't promise, did you?"**

"Nice" Connor said.

"Trickery" Travis said.

**"Knowledge isn't always good for you."**

**"Your mom is the wisdom goddess!"**

"Point made" Leo said.

**"I know! But every time heroes learn the future, they try to change it, and it never works."**

**"The gods are worried about something I'll do when I get older," I guessed. "Something when I turn sixteen."**

"So glad the prophecy wasn't about me" Thalia and Nico both said.

Percy glared, jokingly, at them.

"Oh shut it" he said and they all laughed.

**Annabeth twisted her Yankees cap in her hands. "Percy, I don't know the full prophecy, but it warns about a half-blood child of the Big Three-the next one who lives to the age of sixteen. That's the real reason Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore a pact after World War II not to have any more kids. The next child of the Big Three who reaches sixteen will be a dangerous weapon."**

**"Why?"**

**"Because that hero will decide the fate of Olympus. He or she will make a decision that either saves the Age of the Gods, or destroys it."**

"Wasn't me who saved Olympus" Percy whispered.

**I let that sink in. I don't get seasick, but suddenly I felt ill. "That's why Kronos didn't kill me last summer."**

**She nodded. "You could be very useful to him. If he can get you on his side, the gods will be in serious trouble."**

"That _is_ true," someone said.

**"But if it's me in the prophecy-"**

**"We'll only know that if you survive three more years. That can be a long time for a half-blood. When Chiron first learned about Thalia, he assumed she was the one in the prophecy. That's why he was so desperate to get her safely to camp. Then she went down fighting and got turned into a pine tree and none of us knew what to think. Until you came along."**

**On our port side, a spiky green dorsal fin about fifteen feet long curled out of the water and disappeared.**

"Sea Monster!" Frank said.

"I was gonna say that" Leo whined.

The people who were awake laughed.

**"This kid in the prophecy … he or she couldn't be like, a Cyclops?" I asked. "The Big Three have lots of monster children."**

**Annabeth shook her head. "The Oracle said 'half-blood.' That always means half-human, half-god. There's really nobody alive who it could be, except you."**

Nico looked at Percy, so did Bianca, who was dozing with her head on the arm of the sofa.

"We didn't know about you two yet!" Percy said.

**"Then why do the gods even let me live? It would be safer to kill me."**

**"You're right."**

**"Thanks a lot."**

"Nice" a few said.

**"Percy, I don't know. I guess some of the gods would like to kill you, but they're probably afraid of offending Poseidon.**

"Damn right" Poseidon said.

**Other gods … maybe they're still watching you, trying to decide what kind of hero you're going be. You could be a weapon for their survival, after all. The real question is … what will you do in three years? What decision will you make?"**

**"Did the prophecy give any hints?"**

**Annabeth hesitated.**

**Maybe she would've told me more, but just then a seagull swooped down out of nowhere and landed on our makeshift mast. Annabeth looked startled as the bird dropped a small cluster of leaves into her lap.**

"Stupid bird," Leo said.

**"Land," she said. "There's land nearby!"**

"I didn't like that land" Percy said.

**I sat up. Sure enough, there was a line of blue and brown in the distance. Another minute and I could make out an island with a small mountain in the center, a dazzling white collection of buildings, a beach dotted with palm trees, and a harbor filled with a strange assortment of boats.**

**The current was pulling our rowboat toward what looked like a tropical paradise.**

**"Welcome!" said the lady with the clipboard.**

**She looked like a flight attendant-blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail. She shook our hands as we stepped onto the dock. With the dazzling smile she gave us, you would've thought we'd just gotten off the Princess Andromeda rather than a banged-up rowboat.**

"Uh-oh" Leo said "It's a nice lady...it's a trap"

**Then again, our rowboat wasn't the weirdest ship in port. Along with a bunch of pleasure yachts, there was a U.S. Navy submarine, several dugout canoes, and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. There was a helipad with a "Channel Five Fort Lauderdale" helicopter on it, and a short runway with a Learjet and a propeller plane that looked like a World War II fighter. Maybe they were replicas for tourists to look at or something.**

"I don't think so" Hazel said.

**"Is this your first time with us?" the clipboard lady inquired.**

**Annabeth and I exchanged looks. Annabeth said, "Umm …"**

**"First-time-at-spa," the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see …"**

**She looked us up and down critically. "Mmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young lady. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman."**

**"A what?" I asked**.

"How pretty did you look Percy?" Nico asked.

Before Percy could respond Leo interrupted.

"I was gonna say that too!" he pouted.

The few people awake laughed or cracked smiles.

**She was too busy jotting down notes to answer.**

**"Right!" She said with a breezy smile. "Well, I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."**

**Now here's the thing. Annabeth and I were used to traps, and usually those traps looked good at first. So I expected the clipboard lady to turn into a snake or a demon, or something, any minute. But on the other hand, we'd been floating in a rowboat for most of the day. I was hot, tired, and hungry, and when this lady mentioned a luau, my stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged like a dog.**

"Paradises are places you can get killed" Clarisse sleepily.

Even she was drifting off on Chris's shoulder.

**"I guess it couldn't hurt," Annabeth muttered.**

**Of course it could, but we followed the lady anyway. I kept my hands in my pockets where I'd stashed my only magic defenses-Hermes's multivitamins and Riptide- but the farther we wandered into the resort, the more I forgot about them.**

**The place was amazing. There was white marble and blue water everywhere I looked. Terraces climbed up the side of the mountain, with swimming pools on every level, connected by watersides and waterfalls and underwater tubes you could swim through. Fountains sprayed water into the air, forming impossible shapes, like flying eagles and galloping horses.**

**Tyson loved horses, and I knew he'd love those fountains. I almost turned around to see the expression on his face before I remembered: Tyson was gone.**

**"You okay?" Annabeth asked me. "You look pale."**

**"I'm okay," I lied. "Just … let's keep walking."**

"No need to lie" Thalia said, "she would've understood."

Tyson was snoring pretty loud.

**We passed all kinds of tame animals. A sea turtle napped in a stack of beach towels. A leopard stretched out asleep on the diving board. The resort guests-only young women, as far as I could see-lounged in deck chairs, drinking fruit smoothies or reading magazines while herbal gunk dried on their faces and manicurists in white uniforms did their nails.**

**As we headed up a staircase toward what looked like the main building, I heard a woman singing. Her voice drifted through the air like a lullaby. Her words were in some language other than Ancient Greek, but just as old-Minoan, maybe, or something like that. I could understand what she sang about-moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of the sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift me off the steps and carry me toward her.**

**We came into a big room where the whole front wall was windows. The back wall was covered in mirrors, so the room seemed to go on forever. There was a bunch of expensive-looking white furniture, and on a table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage seemed out of place, but I didn't think about it too much, because just then I saw the lady who'd been singing … and whoa.**

"You're supposed to like Annabeth!" Aphrodite said.

"I don't like Annabeth" Percy said.

Thalia began to glare at him.

"I love her," Percy said.

Aphrodite held in her squeal because of her husband sleeping next to her.

**She sat at a loom the size of a big screen TV, her hands weaving colored thread back and forth with amazing skill. The tapestry shimmered like it was three dimensional-a waterfall scene so real I could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky**

"Athena's are better" Poseidon said.

**Annabeth caught her breath. "It's beautiful."**

**The woman turned. She was even prettier than her fabric. Her long dark hair was braided with threads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through a forest at night.**

**"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" the woman asked.**

**"Oh, yes, ma'am!" Annabeth said. "My mother is-"**

"Nice" Thalia said, "go ahead and give us all away."

**She stopped herself. You couldn't just go around announcing that your mom was Athena, the goddess who invented the loom. Most people would lock you in a rubber room.**

**Our hostess just smiled. "You have good taste, my dear. I'm so glad you've come. My name is C.C."**

"I'm confuzzled" Leo said.

**The animals in the corner cage started squealing. They must've been guinea pigs, from the sound of them.**

Percy flinched a tad.

**We introduced ourselves to C.C. She looked me over with a twinge of disapproval, as if I'd failed some kind of test. Immediately, I felt bad. For some reason, I really wanted to please this lady.**

**"Oh, dear," she sighed. "You do need my help."**

"No, he's perfect" Sally said.

"Love you mom" Percy said.

Sally smiled at Percy.

"Love you-" yawn "-too Percy."

**"Ma'am?" I asked.**

**C.C. called to the lady in the business suit. "Hylla, take Annabeth on a tour, will you? Show her what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the hair, my goodness. We will do a full image consultation after I've spoken with this young gentleman."**

**"But …" Annabeth's voice sounded hurt. "What's wrong with my hair?"**

"Only time you'll ever hear Annabeth worry about her hair.

**C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dear, you are lovely. Really! But you're not showing off yourself or your talents at all. So much wasted potential!"**

**"Wasted?"**

**"Well, surely you're not happy the way you are! My goodness, there's not a single person who is. But don't worry. We can improve anyone here at the spa. Hylla will show you what I mean. You, my dear, need to unlock your true self!"**

"She was wrong" Percy said, "she was already beautiful."

**Annabeth's eyes glowed with longing. I'd never seen her so much at a loss for words. "But … what about Percy?"**

**"Oh, definitely," C.C. said, giving me a sad look. "Percy requires my personal attention. He needs much more work than you."**

**Normally if somebody had told me that, I would've gotten angry, but when C.C. said it, I felt sad. I'd disappointed her. I had to figure out how to do better.**

"He's enchanted," Aphrodite said.

Poseidon groaned.

**The guinea pigs squealed like they were hungry.**

**"Well …" Annabeth said. "I suppose …"**

**"Right this way, dear," Hylla said. And Annabeth allowed herself to be led away into the waterfall-laced gardens of the spa.**

**C.C. took my arm and guided me toward the mirrored wall. "You see, Percy … to unlock your potential, you'll need serious help. The first step is admitting that you're not happy the way you are."**

**I fidgeted in the front of the mirror. I hated thinking about my appearance-like the first zit that had cropped up on my nose at the beginning of the school year, or the fact that my two front teeth weren't perfectly even, or that my hair never stayed down straight.**

"His hair is fine" Sally said.

**C.C.'s voice brought all of these things to mind, as if she were passing me under a microscope. And my clothes were not cool. I knew that.**

**Who cares? Part of me thought. But standing in front of C.C.'s mirror, it was hard to see anything good in myself.**

**"There, there," C.C. consoled. "How about we try … this."**

**She snapped her fingers and a sky-blue curtain rolled down over the mirror. It shimmered like the fabric on her loom.**

**"What do you see?" C.C. asked.**

**I looked at the blue cloth, not sure what she meant. "I don't-"**

**Then it changed colors. I saw myself-a reflection, but not a reflection. Shimmering there on the cloth was a cooler version of Percy Jackson-with just the right clothes, a confident smile on my face. My teeth were straight. No zits. A perfect tan. More athletic. Maybe a couple of inches taller. It was me, without the faults.**

"I think I like normal Percy better" Sally smiled.

**"Whoa," I managed.**

**"Do you want that?" C.C. asked. "Or shall I try a different-"**

**"No," I said. "That's … that's amazing. Can you really-"**

**"I can give you a full makeover," C.C. promised.**

**"What's the catch?" I said. "I have to like … eat a special diet?"**

**"Oh, it's quite easy," C.C. said. "Plenty of fresh fruit, a mild exercise program, and of course … this."**

**She stepped over to her wet bar and filled a glass with water. Then she ripped open a drink-mix packet and poured in some red powder. The mixture began to glow. When it faded, the drink looked just like a strawberry milk shake.**

"I love strawberries," Demeter sighed "but cereal is better."

The people awake groaned.

**"One of these, substituted for a regular meal," C.C. said. "I guarantee you'll see results immediately."**

**"How is that possible?"**

**She laughed. "Why question it? I mean, don't you want the perfect you right away?"**

**Something nagged at the back of my mind. "Why are there no guys at this spa?"**

**"Oh, but there are," C.C. assured me. "You'll meet them quite soon. Just try the mixture. You'll see."**

**I looked at the blue tapestry, at the reflection of me, but not me.**

**"Now, Percy," C.C. chided. "The hardest part of the makeover process is giving up control. You have to decide: do you want to trust your judgment about what you should be, or my judgment?"**

**My throat felt dry. I heard myself say, "Your judgment."**

Poseidon groaned.

**C.C. smiled and handed me the glass. I lifted it to my lips.**

**It tasted just like it looked-like a strawberry milk shake. Almost immediately a warm feeling spread through my gut: pleasant at first, then painfully hot, searing, as if the mixture were coming to a boil inside of me.**

Poseidon didn't look too good.

**I doubled over and dropped the cup. "What have you … what's happening?"**

**"Don't worry, Percy," C.C. said. "The pain will pass. Look! As I promised. Immediate results."**

**Something was horribly wrong.**

**The curtain dropped away, and in the mirror I saw my hands shriveling, curling, growing long delicate claws. Fur sprouted on my face, under my shirt, in every uncomfortable place you can imagine. My teeth felt too heavy in my mouth. My clothes were getting too big, or C.C. was getting too tall-no, I was shrinking.**

"She's changing you into an animal" Hazel said.

Thalia had closed her eyes and ended up leaning against Nico and was snoring.

**In one awful flash, I sank into a cavern of dark cloth. I was buried in my own shirt. I tried to run but hands grabbed me-hands as big as I was. I tried to scream for help, but all that came out of my mouth was, "Reeet, reeet, reeet!"**

**The giant hands squeezed me around the middle, lifting me into the air. I struggled and kicked with legs and arms that seemed much too stubby, and then I was staring, horrified, into the enormous face of C.C.**

**"Perfect!" her voice boomed. I squirmed in alarm, but she only tightened her grip around my furry belly. "See, Percy? You've unlocked your true self!"**

"That's mean" Rachel said.

"She was a monster," Percy said.

**She held me up to the mirror, and what I saw made me scream in terror, "Reeet, reeet, reeet!" There was C.C., beautiful and smiling, holding a fluffy, bucktoothed creature with tiny claws and white and orange fur. When I twisted, so did the furry critter in the mirror. I was … I was …**

Percy closed his eyes and sighed.

**"A guinea pig,"**

Everyone awake laughed.

"That's awesome!" Leo said and laughed.

No one woke up because of the laughter.

"I bet you were cute," Hazel said.

"Shut up" Percy blushed scarlet.

"Is that why you like lettuce and celery?" Nico asked.

Percy didn't answer as everyone laughed again.

A few people stirred in their sleep but they didn't wake up.

"We gotta tell everyone else tomorrow" Nico said and looked at Thalia asleep on his shoulder and he couldn't help but smile.

**C.C. said. "Lovely, aren't you? Men are pigs, Percy Jackson. I used to turn them into real pigs, but they were so smelly and large and difficult to keep. Not much different than they were before, really. Guinea pigs are much more convenient! Now come, and meet the other men."**

**"Reeet!" I protested, trying to scratch her, but C.C. squeezed me so tight I almost blacked out.**

"At least you're not dead" Poseidon said.

He then began to fall asleep with Athena curled up next to him.

**"None of that, little one," she scolded, "or I'll feed you to the owls. Go into the cage like a good little pet. Tomorrow, if you behave, you'll be on your way. There is always a classroom in need of a new guinea pig."**

**My mind was racing as fast as my tiny little heart. I needed to get back to my clothes, which were lying in a heap on the floor. If I could do that, I could get Riptide out of my pocket and … And what? I couldn't uncap the pen. Even if I did, I couldn't hold the sword.**

**I squirmed helplessly as C.C. brought me over to the guinea pig cage and opened the wire door.**

**"Meet my discipline problems, Percy," she warned. "They'll never make good classroom pets, but they might teach you some manners. Most of them have been in this cage for three hundred years. If you don't want to stay with them permanently, I'd suggest you-"**

**Annabeth's voice called: "Miss C.C.?"**

"Annabeth to save the day" Nico said and Thalia almost fell flat on her face but Nico had caught her and held onto her to keep her from falling.

**C.C. cursed in Ancient Greek. She plopped me into the cage and closed the door. I squealed and clawed at the bars, but it was no good. I watched as C.C. hurriedly kicked my clothes under the loom just as Annabeth came in.**

**I almost didn't recognize her. She was wearing a sleeveless silk dress like C.C.'s, only white. Her blond hair was newly washed and combed and braided with gold. Worst of all,**

"Whoa" Nico and Leo said looking at Annabeth.

"Keep your eyes off" Percy grumbled.

Nico and Leo looked away.

**she was wearing makeup, which I never thought Annabeth would be caught dead in. I mean, she looked good. Really good. I probably would've been tongue-tied if I could've said anything except reet, reet, reet. But there was also something totally wrong about it. It just wasn't Annabeth.**

"Yeah, it's not Annabeth" Rachel said.

**She looked around the room and frowned. "Where's Percy?"**

**I squealed up a storm, but she didn't seem to hear me.**

**C.C. smiled. "He's having one of our treatments, my dear. Not to worry. You look wonderful! What did you think of your tour?"**

**Annabeth's eyes brightened. "Your library is amazing!"**

"Nice" Will said as Lee let out his first snore of the night.

**"Yes, indeed," C.C. said, "The best knowledge of the past three millennia. Anything you want to study, anything you want to be, my dear."**

**"An architect?"**

**"Pah!" C.C. said. "You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me."**

**Annabeth took a step back. "A sorceress?"**

Percy shook his head slowly, seeing as though he was almost asleep.

**"Yes, my dear." C.C. held up her hand. A flame appeared in her palm and danced across her fingertips. "My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Athena when I see one. We are not so different, you and I. We both seek knowledge. We both admire greatness. Neither of us needs to stand in the shadow of men."**

"I can do that too!" Leo said and lit his hand and played with the fire.

**"I-I don't understand."**

**Again, I squealed my best, trying to get Annabeth's attention, but she either couldn't hear me or didn't think the noises were important.**

**Meanwhile, the other guinea pigs were emerging from their hutch to check me out. I didn't think it was possible for guinea pigs to look mean, but these did. There were half a dozen, with dirty fur and cracked teeth and beady red eyes. They were covered with shavings and smelled like they really had been in here for three hundred years, without getting their cage cleaned.**

"Ew" the girls awake said.

Clarisse had fallen asleep on Chris.

**"Stay with me," C.C. was telling Annabeth. "Study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will. You will become immortal!"**

**"But-"**

**"You are too intelligent, my dear," C.C. said. "You know better than to trust that silly camp for heroes. How many great female half-blood heroes can you name?"**

**"Um, Atalanta, Amelia Earhart-"**

**"Bah! Men get all the glory." C.C. closed her fist and extinguished the magic flame. "The only way to power for women is sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now there were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all."**

**"You … C.C. … Circe!"**

"_Great_" Zeus said and looked at his brother, sound asleep with Athena next to him "good thing Poseidon is not awake."

**"Yes, my dear."**

**Annabeth backed up, and Circe laughed. "You need not worry. I mean you no harm."**

**"What have you done to Percy?"**

**"Only helped him realize his true form."**

**Annabeth scanned the room. Finally she saw the cage, and me scratching at the bars, all the other guinea pigs crowding around me. Her eyes went wide.**

**"Forget him," Circe said. "Join me and learn the ways of sorcery."**

**"But-"**

**"Your friend will be well cared for. He'll be shipped to a wonderful new home on the mainland. The kindergartners will adore him. Meanwhile, you will be wise and powerful. You will have all you ever wanted."**

**Annabeth was still staring at me, but she had a dreamy expression on her face. She looked the same way I had when Circe enchanted me into drinking the guinea pig milk shake. I squealed and scratched, trying to warn her to snap out of it, but I was absolutely powerless.**

**"Let me think about it," Annabeth murmured. "Just… give me a minute alone. To say good-bye."**

**"Of course, my dear," Circe cooed. "One minute. Oh … and so you have absolute privacy …" She waved her hand and iron bars slammed down over the windows. She swept out of the room and I heard the locks on the door click shut behind her.**

**The dreamy look melted off Annabeth's face.**

**She rushed over to my cage. "All right, which one is you?**

**I squealed, but so did all the other guinea pigs. Annabeth looked desperate. She scanned the room and spotted the cuff of my jeans sticking out from under the loom.**

**Yes!**

**She rushed over and rummaged through my pockets.**

**But instead of bringing out Riptide, she found the bottle of Hermes multivitamins and started struggling with the cap.**

**I wanted to scream at her that this wasn't the time for taking supplements! She had to draw the sword!**

A few people looked confused.

**She popped a lemon chewable in her mouth just as the door flew open and Circe came back in, flanked by two of her business-suited attendants.**

**"Well," Circe sighed, "how fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?"**

**"This," Annabeth said, and she drew her bronze knife.**

**The sorceress stepped back, but her surprise quickly passed. She sneered. "Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise?"**

**Circe looked back at her attendants, who smiled. They raised their hands as if preparing to cast a spell.**

**Run! I wanted to tell Annabeth, but all I could make were rodent noises. The other guinea pigs squealed in terror and scuttled around the cage. I had the urge to panic and hide, too, but I had to think of something! I couldn't stand to lose Annabeth the way I'd lost Tyson.**

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" Aphrodite cooed softly as Percy mumbled something about blonde princess hair in his sleep.

**"What will Annabeth's makeover be?" Circe mused. "Something small and ill-tempered. I know … a shrew!"**

**Blue fire coiled from her fingers curling like serpents around Annabeth.**

**I watched, horror-struck, but nothing happened. Annabeth was still Annabeth, only angrier. She leaped forward and stuck the point of her knife against Circe's neck. "How about turning me into a panther instead? One that has her claws at your throat!"**

**"How!" Circe yelped.**

**Annabeth held up my bottle of vitamins for the sorceress to see.**

**Circe howled in frustration. "Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! Those are such a fad! They do nothing for you."**

Hermes jolted awake when Sally read his name.

"Multivitamins are good for you" he went back to sleep with Artemis.

**"Turn Percy back to a human or else!" Annabeth said.**

**"I can't!"**

**"Then you asked for it."**

**Circe's attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, "Get back! She's immune to magic until that cursed vitamin wears off."**

**Annabeth dragged Circe over to the guinea pig cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside.**

**"No!" Circe screamed.**

**I was the first to get a vitamin, but all the other guinea pigs scuttled out, too, and checked out this new food.**

**The first nibble, and I felt all fiery inside. I gnawed at the vitamin until it stopped looking so huge, and the cage got smaller, and then suddenly, bang! The cage exploded. I was sitting on the floor, a human again-somehow back in my regular clothes, thank the gods-**

Everyone laughed.

"That would've been funny" Leo yawned.

**with six other guys who all looked disoriented, blinking and shaking wood shavings out of their hair.**

**"No!" Circe screamed. "You don't understand! Those are the worst!"**

**One of the men stood up-a huge guy with a long tangled pitch-black beard and teeth the same color. He wore mismatched clothes of wool and leather, knee-length boots, and a floppy felt hat. The other men were dressed more simply-in breeches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot.**

**"Argggh!" bellowed the big man. "What's the witch done t'me!"**

**"No!" Circe moaned.**

**Annabeth gasped. "I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?"**

**"Aye, lass," the big man growled. "Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceress what captured us, lads. Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Arggggh!"**

Everyone laughed.

**Circe screamed. She and her attendants ran from the room, chased by the pirates.**

**Annabeth sheathed her knife and glared at me.**

**"Thanks …" I faltered. "I'm really sorry-"**

**Before I could figure out how to apologize for being such an idiot, she tackled me with a hug,**

Aphrodite smiled like an idiot.

**then pulled away just as quickly. "I'm glad you're not a guinea pig."**

**"Me, too." I hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt.**

"I'm sure it was" Nico said and adjusted Thalia so she could be more comfortable.

**She undid the golden braids in her hair.**

**"Come on, Seaweed Brain," she said. "We have to get away while Circe's distracted."**

**We ran down the hillside through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates ransacking the resort. Blackbeard's men broke the tiki torches for the luau, threw herbal wraps into the swimming pool, and kicked over tables of sauna towels.**

**I almost felt bad letting the unruly pirates out, but I guessed they deserved something more entertaining than the exercise wheel after being cooped up in a cage for three centuries.**

**"Which ship?" Annabeth said as we reached the docks.**

**I looked around desperately. We couldn't very well take our rowboat. We had to get off the island fast, but what else could we use? A sub? A fighter jet? I couldn't pilot any of those things. And then I saw it.**

**"There," I said.**

**Annabeth blinked. "But-"**

**"I can make it work."**

**"How?"**

"Fishy powers" Leo said and curled up next to a sleeping Jason and fell asleep.

It had to be late if hyperactive Leo fell asleep.

**I couldn't explain. I just somehow knew an old sailing vessel was the best bet for me. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and pulled her toward the three-mast ship. Painted on its prow was the name that I would only decipher later: Queen Anne's Revenge.**

**"Argggh!" Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind us. "Those scalawags are a-boarding me vessel! Get 'em, lads!"**

**"We'll never get going in time!" Annabeth yelled as we climbed aboard.**

**I looked around at the hopeless maze of sail and ropes. The ship was in great condition for a three-hundred-year-old vessel, but it would still take a crew of fifty several hours to get underway. We didn't have several hours. I could see the pirates running down the stairs, waving tiki torches and sticks of celery.**

**I closed my eyes and concentrated on the waves lapping against the hull, the ocean currents, the winds all around me. Suddenly, the right word appeared in my mind. "Mizzenmast!" I yelled.**

The few people still awake looked confused.

"Mizzenmast?" Hades asked as Persephone snored a soft snore next to him.

**Annabeth looked at me like I was nuts, but in the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.**

"Cool!" Connor and Travis said.

**Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit. "Percy, how …"**

**I didn't have an answer, but I could feel the ship responding to me as if it were part of my body. I willed the sails to rise as easily as if I were flexing my arm. I willed the rudder to turn.**

**The Queen Anne's Revenge lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived at the water's edge, we were already underway, sailing into the Sea of Monsters.**

"Done" Sally yawned and Hera poofed everyone to their beds where those who were awake fell asleep instantly.

* * *

**okay how was that? also...when leo said confuzzled...i heard the word from my neighbor and cant stop saying it.**

**so...thats' it for now and thanks again The First Maraudette!**

**Peace!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


	15. Nightmare, Comfort, Confession

**I'M BACK! **

**Sorry for leaving and not updating for a while:) i was grounded:( i hope you're all not TO mad at me! i just got un grounded so ill work on the stories all today! each one will have 2 chapters, if not more, by the end of the night...excpet maybe this one cause i have to send it to my amazing beta! but she's super quick so we should be good!**

**uh...**

**Reviewer answers *the direct whispers***

**Yes! Reviewer Answers! **

***clears throat***

** PokemonLuver4Eva131:**I LOVE this story! I stayed up all night reading the first one and then this one. I just love the idea and its so cool getting to hear their comments as they read it. Its so funny how Poseidon gets all worried every time Percy gets in trouble, like he's not right there! You are amazing! I can't wait to read more  
**~thank you im glad you like it! making the gods worry is knida setting up for something huge! ;) thank you for reading!**

**Kireeofolympus:**Ok now I seriously feel stupid... Sorry! I maybe possibly jump to unrealistic conclusions sometimes... Soo yeah... I feel like an utter VLACAS right now... So sorry for completely freaking out and so on and so forth... you can probably ignore all of my recent reviews if you wish. The reason I freaked is because I don't have an account and therefore couldn't pm you. So I kind of jumped to the worst possible conclusion. Because I was reading a pjo story and something like this happened... She was off for a while and I'd check everyday to see if she had updated, but one day I went to check and her account didn't show up anywhere... So I kinda maybe possibly thought that something like that had happened to you. So I kind of freaked out. So sorry again and sorry that this review is so long, and thanks to TheFirstMaraudette for letting me know. Sorry again! I promise I'll make you cookies to repay for my freaking out! :) BYE! kireeofolympus  
**~*smiles sheepishly* sorry about that...im thankful that the first maraudette was here to assure you all i was okay:) maybe now ill avoid bad grades...don't want my people freaking out. i got on my sis's laptop once and checked my emails (all she would let me do!) and almost cried because everyone was all like, update and flipping and made me sad cause i felt like i let you all down...but im back and every story will be updated! i swear on the styx!**

**...**

**Me: *tied to a chair* where's Annabeth?**

**Percy: not here**

**Me: *glares at him***

**Thalia: don't give him that look...we'll untie you when you admit it!**

**Me: *plays dumb* admit what?**

**Nico: that you don't own these books!**

**Me: oh that...and here's what i say! *deep breath* NEVER!**

**All three: okay *leaves room and turns off lights.**

**Me: hey it's dark! So did I w...what is on my leg? it feels like its a bug.**

***lights go on huge spider on my leg***

**Me: holy ****! oh my gods! thats a huge effing spider! *screams* help!**

**A voice: admit it**

**Me: I do not own percy jackson and the olympians!**

**Voice:thank you**

***lights go off again spider crawls off***

**Me: thank gods!...it's still dark!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

Sometime during the night Annabeth's nightmare began.

Her dream started out fine and happy as she watched her and Percy laugh together at a campfire sing-along at Camp Half Blood.

Annabeth could tell it was winter because of the light layer of snow Dionysus allowed in Camp during this time.

She watched Percy walk back to his cabin and then all of a sudden Percy was taken from Camp.

Annabeth didn't know by who or what but what she did know was that she needed to find him.

She watched herself search frantically for her lost hero, not only was she searching but so was every friend of hers and the entire Camp.

The scene changed and she saw herself dangling over a dark abyss.

She felt the coldness of souls of defeated monsters and the harsh laugh of those sentenced to the dark place.

Tartarus.

Something was pulling her into the bottomless pit.

She felt herself slip a little out of the thing that was desperately hanging onto her.

When she looked up she saw something worse than herself hanging.

Percy was there, holding her hand refusing to let her go and was holding onto a little ledge.

Percy said something she could not hear to her and she said something back.

Then Percy told someone, Annabeth could not see, something.

Annabeth looked down again and almost passed out.

She felt herself falling again as Percy put his arm around her waist.

Annabeth realized that Percy let go of the ledge instead of her to be with her.

Together they fell.

...

Annabeth woke up feeling like she was falling.

She realized she was sweating and panting.

She quickly got out of bed and literally ran down the hallway.

She stopped at Percy's door and softly opened it.

"Percy?" she whispered as soft as she could.

Percy woke up immediately.

"Annabeth?" he asked concern written all over his face.

In one swift movement he was out of bed, despite his drowsiness, and had pulled her into a hug.

Annabeth hugged him and didn't let go.

She didn't want to...she was afraid of the dream coming true and losing him.

She found herself crying as she told Percy everything.

"It's okay love" he said and led her to his bed where she cuddled up next to him and laid her head on his chest with her hand lightly in front of it.

Percy put his arm around her waist and kissed her head softly before they fell asleep together.

...

On the other side of the guest rooms Nico sat awake.

He couldn't sleep, even before they started reading the books, he was having trouble sleeping.

He was constantly being asked why he had dark circles under his eyes.

He could no longer shadow travel because he was so tired.

He laid back on his bed and sighed.

He was about to roll over and try to sleep when he heard a soft knock at his door.

He opened the door to...Thalia?

"Hi" he said, an instant blush going to his cheeks.

"Couldn't sleep," she said.

"You were sleeping earlier" Nico commented.

"Yeah but the instant Hera poofed us to our rooms I woke up and haven't been able to go to sleep yet" she explained.

"And you came here?" Nico asked.

Thalia nodded.

Nico stood aside and Thalia came in.

Nico's room had a black and silver theme... kind of like the Christmas tree he helped decorate in the living room.

"I haven't been able to sleep for weeks," Nico admitted.

"Why?" Thalia inquired.

"I can't stop thinking about you" Nico admitted and looked down "now you'll probably think I'm weird and will never talk to me again."

Thalia laughed.

"Nico," she said, "I know you're weird."

Nico smiled.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Nico asked the Daughter of Zeus.

It was Thalia's turn to blush.

"I've been thinking about what you said at dinner," Thalia admitted.

"Oh" Nico said.

"I wasn't able to tell you because everyone came in to read the book but I was going to tell you that..." she let out a breath "I feel the same way."

Nico's head snapped up immediately.

"What?" he asked.

"I feel the same way" Thalia looked down, embarrassed.

Nico didn't know what to do but he took her hand.

She looked up and they were both red.

"Sorry" Nico said and dropped her hand.

Thalia took his and didn't let him let go.

They looked relaxed and they talked.

Nico told Thalia about Percy getting turned into a guinea pig.

Thalia laughed about that.

They were joking around and laughing when they both fell asleep.

Nico with his arm around Thalia.

...

When everyone woke up they had their eardrums broken.

Aphrodite squealed when she walked by Percy's door and saw Annabeth and Percy laying together.

Annabeth had left the door open a bit.

Percy and Annabeth were woken up by the squealing.

Everyone rushed to where Aphrodite was.

"What is it?" Athena asked.

"Look it!" Aphrodite squealed!

Everyone looked inside and saw Annabeth and Percy standing casually in the room.

"They slept together!" Aphrodite squealed.

Poseidon had a cup of orange juice in his hand and was taking a drink of it when Aphrodite said that.

He spewed orange over everyone.

"Huh?" he asked.

"Nothing happened!" Annabeth said, "I had a nightmare and Percy was comforting me."

They were both blushing.

Everyone let it drop and went to breakfast.

Demeter served cereal for breakfast.

They all got to the book quickly.

"Also you guys who fell asleep last night, Percy was turned into a guinea pig!" Nico said.

Everyone laughed.

Percy pouted.

"Awwww" Annabeth said, "You were cute and you still are!"

Percy smiled at her and kissed her.

"I'm reading!" Hera said and took the book.

"One more thing!" Percy said.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!" he shouted.

Everyone cheered and laughed.

Tomorrow was gift day!

* * *

**see ya soon!:)**


	16. Annabeth Tries to Swim Home

**hey everyone! it was a faster update! woooooooooooo i feel like we're almost done with the book! then on to the Titan's Curse after a huge twist :) (no not a percabeth fight again!)**

**The House of Hades book cover is out and it shows...you'll just have to see. lets just say i have a good feeling about Percabeth's safety! i also read an overview on Rick Riordan's website and it talked about how Leo wasn't sure how Percabeth would escape if the doors had to be shut from both sides...Why do i feel like instead of Nico it's gonna be Leo that sacrifices him self? Either one is heart breaking! :'( no death! we no like death!**

**Also, a happy note, check out the OFFICIAL trailer for PJO2 SoM! out August 16th! OMGs i can't wait! Anaklusmos is finally mentioned**

**I have officially become part of the Riordan genration! I have started reading the Kane chronicles! i need to buy the next books and ill do that when i but HoH! along with 39 clues!**

**Reviewer answers! (365 reviews! i love you all too!)**

**Mila-is-a-bookworm-101:**lol didn't they find nico and Thalia though?  
~**now they will *evil laugh and smile***

**Perseus Jackson Rules:**Welcome back sis. I am glad you updated. I just have a few things to say.  
Perseus: I am glad you were able to comfort our sister Annabeth.  
kirreeofolympus: Thank you for the welcome. Yes the Mark of Athena quest is dangerous but important. Those Romans disgraced Athena by making what she is in Roman.  
Poseidon: I was wondering if yu were upset for how the Romans treated you and your temple but also how they treated Athena. Also your son Perseus is awesome.

Please check out my profile.

Now if you have not saw it I know ofan author by ChildOfWisdom who is also a child of Athena.  
Keep up the good work.  
Perseus Jackson Rules, son of Athena signing off.  
**~Percy: Anything to help my beautiful girlfriend...you're lucky to have a sister as wonderful as her!**  
**Poseidon:I am upset at how they treated both me and Athena. we were supreme gods in Greece and we were treted like garbage in Rome! It made us angry but i think it brought us coser for we were in the same boat if you know what i mean. and Perseus is pretty amazing:)**  
**See ya later bro!;) see ya at Camp! (or else...)**

**...**

**Disclaimer: Rick owns PJO not me!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**

* * *

**"Annabeth tries to swim home," **Hera read.

Everyone looked at Annabeth.

"What?" she asked.

**I'd finally found something I was really good at.**

"Sword fighting" Thalia said.

"Being the best boyfriend ever," Annabeth said.

"Being Aqua Man?" Nico asked.

Everyone looked at him weird.

"Before Mythomagic it was comics!" Nico protested and a hint of a blush rose to his cheeks.

Everyone laughed.

**The Queen Anne's Revenge responded to my every command. I knew which ropes to hoist, which sails to raise, which direction to steer. We plowed through the waves at what I figured was about ten knots. I even understood how fast that was. For a sailing ship, pretty darn fast.**

**It all felt perfect-the wind in my face, the waves breaking over the prow.**

"Son of Poseidon" Poseidon, Sally and Percy all smiled.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Percy said.

Poseidon smiled at his son and Percy returned the smile.

"Not even the almost dying parts?" Poseidon asked.

"Nope" Percy laughed.

**But now that we were out of danger, all I could think about was how much I missed Tyson, and how worried I was about Grover.**

Grover smiled at Percy.

"I wasn't worried, I knew you'd come," he said.

Tyson smiled at Percy to.

"I had Rainbow, Brother!" Tyson said.

**I couldn't get over how badly I'd messed up on Circe's Island.**

"You were enchanted" Annabeth said and kissed her boyfriend.

Percy kissed her back.

"I love you" Percy said.

"I love you too Percy" Annabeth smiled.

**If it hadn't been for Annabeth, I'd still be a rodent, hiding in a hutch with a bunch of cute furry pirates. I thought about what Circe had said: See, Percy? You've unlocked your true self!**

**I still felt changed. Not just because I had a sudden desire to eat lettuce.**

There were a few chuckles especially from the few that were awake for the guinea pig part.

**I felt jumpy, like the instinct to be a scared little animal was now a part of me. Or maybe it had always been there. That's what really worried me.**

"Everyone has a little bit of that in them Percy it just takes the right thing to bring it out" Athena said.

PErcy smiled at her.

**We sailed through the night.**

**Annabeth tried to help me keep lookout, but sailing didn't agree with her. After a few hours rocking back and forth, her face turned the color of guacamole and she went below to lie in a hammock.**

"Seasick?" Piper asked.

"At the time but after being Percy's friend for so long I got used to it" Annabeth said.

**I watched the horizon. More than once I spotted monsters. A plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight. A row of green spines slithered across the waves-something maybe a hundred feet long, reptilian. I didn't really want to know.**

"Neither do I" Poseidon said and Athena agreed.

**Once I saw Nereids, the glowing lady spirits of the sea. I tried to wave at them, but they disappeared into the depths, leaving me unsure whether they'd seen me or not.**

**Sometime after midnight, Annabeth came up on deck. We were just passing a smoking volcano island. The sea bubbled and steamed around the shore.**

**"One of the forges of Hephaestus," Annabeth said. "Where he makes his metal monsters."**

**"Like the bronze bulls?"**

**She nodded. "Go around. Far around."**

"HEY!" Leo, Hephaestus, and Beckendorf all yelled.

"That could've been so freaking cool!" Leo said!

"It is!" Hephaestus said.

**I didn't need to be told twice. We steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind us.**

**I looked at Annabeth. "The reason you hate Cyclopes so much … the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?"**

Thalia, Grover, and Luke looked down.

Nico took Thalia's hand as she sighed.

Aphrodite saw this and squealed loud enough for car alarms to go off down below.

"MY EARS ARE BLEEDING!" Apollo said.

"WHAT?!" Hermes yelled.

"HUH?!" Leo asked.

Hera clapped and everyone's ears were fixed.

"What was that?" Apollo asked Aphrodite.

"They were holding hands!" Aphrodite said pointing at Nico and Thalia.

Everyone looked at them.

They both were blushing furiously.

Percy and Annabeth chuckled.

"Dangit!" Leo said.

"What?" Piper asked him.

"Why does Nico get her?" Leo whined.

"Zeus! Your daughter is a guy magnet! Cause I bet that Luke likes her too!" Aphrodite said.

Luke looked away from everyone.

"No boys" Zeus said.

"Like a protective Father" Hera cooed and got closer to her husband and began to read again.

**It was hard to see her expression in the dark.**

**"I guess you deserve to know," she said finally. "The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?"**

**I nodded.**

**"Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops's lair in Brooklyn."**

**"They've got Cyclopes in Brooklyn?" I asked.**

"Really?" a few people asked.

"What? I was still kind of new to this!" Percy said.

**"You wouldn't believe how many, but that's not the point. This Cyclops, he tricked us. He managed to split us up inside this maze of corridors in an old house in Flatbush. And he could sound like anyone, Percy. Just the way Tyson did aboard the Princess Andromeda. He lured us, one at a time. Thalia thought she was running to save Luke. Luke thought he heard me scream for help. And me … I was alone in the dark. I was seven years old. I couldn't even find the exit."**

The 4 people that were there when this happened looked down.

Athena looked at her daughter worriedly.

**She brushed the hair out of her face. "I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams. The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew my knife, but he heard me. He turned and smiled. He spoke, and somehow he knew my dad's voice. I guess he just plucked it out of my mind. He said, 'Now, Annabeth, don't you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever.'"**

The demigods all shuddered.

"Now I get it" Percy said and hugged his girlfriend closer.

"I am not like that Annabeth" Tyson said.

"I know you're not, big guy" Annabeth told her boyfriend's brother.

**I shivered. The way she told it-even now, six years later-freaked me out worse than any ghost story I'd ever heard. "What did you do?"**

**"I stabbed him in the foot."**

"NICE!" Apollo and Hermes said and high-fived Annabeth.

**I stared at her. "Are you kidding? You were seven years old and you stabbed a grown Cyclops in the foot?"**

**"Oh, he would've killed me. But I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there."**

"But Annabeth saved the day technically!" Thalia said.

**"Yeah, but still … that was pretty brave, Annabeth."**

"Heck yeah!" Leo said.

**She shook her head. "We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops talked in my father's voice. It was his fault we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters who'd been chasing us had time to catch up. That's really why Thalia died. If it hadn't been for that Cyclops, she'd still be alive today."**

**We sat on the deck, watching the Hercules constellation rise in the night sky.**

**"Go below," Annabeth told me at last. "You need some rest."**

**I nodded. My eyes were heavy. But when I got below and found a hammock, it took me a long time to fall asleep. I kept thinking about Annabeth's story. I wondered, if I were her, would I have had enough courage to go on this quest, to sail straight toward the lair of another Cyclops?**

**I didn't dream about Grover.**

"Thanks" Grover joked.

**Instead I found myself back in Luke's stateroom aboard the Princess Andromeda. The curtains were open. It was nighttime outside. The air swirled with shadows. Voices whispered all around me-spirits of the dead.**

**Beware, they whispered. Traps. Trickery.**

**Kronos's golden sarcophagus glowed faintly-the only source of light in the room.**

**A cold laugh startled me. It seemed to come from miles below the ship. You don't have the courage, young one. You can't stop me.**

**I knew what I had to do. I had to open that coffin.**

**I uncapped Riptide. Ghosts whirled around me like a tornado. Beware!**

**My heart pounded. I couldn't make my feet move, but I had to stop Kronos. I had to destroy whatever was in that box.**

"I'm confused" Apollo and Hermes declared.

Travis and Connor nodded in agreement.

**Then a girl spoke right next to me: "Well, Seaweed Brain?"**

**I looked over, expecting to see Annabeth, but the girl wasn't Annabeth. She wore punk-style clothes with silver chains on her wrists. She had spiky black hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy blue eyes, and a spray of freckles across her nose. She looked familiar, but I wasn't sure why.**

"How did you know what I looked like without seeing me?" Thalia asked.

Percy shrugged.

**"Well?" she asked. "Are we going to stop him or not?"**

**I couldn't answer. I couldn't move.**

**The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine. Leave it to me and Aegis."**

"How did you know about Aegis?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know!" Percy said.

**She tapped her wrist and her silver chains transformed- flattening and expanding into a huge shield. It was silver and bronze, with the monstrous face of Medusa protruding from the center. It looked like a death mask, as if the gorgon's real head had been pressed into the metal. I didn't know if that was true, or if the shield could really petrify me, but I looked away. Just being near it made me cold with fear. I got a feeling that in a real fight, the bearer of that shield would be almost impossible to beat. Any sane enemy would turn and run.**

"I don't like that shield" Connor and Travis said.

Nico shrugged "I don't mind it."

"Cause you're Ghost king!" the Stolls said.

Nico shrugged.

"Maybe" he said.

**The girl drew her sword and advanced on the sarcophagus. The shadowy ghosts parted for her, scattering before the terrible aura of her shield.**

**"No," I tried to warn her.**

**But she didn't listen. She marched straight up to the sarcophagus and pushed aside the golden lid.**

**For a moment she stood there, gazing down at whatever was in the box.**

**The coffin began to glow.**

**"No." The girl's voice trembled. "It can't be."**

"Confused again!" Apollo and the Stolls said.

Hermes eyes widened then he put his head in his hands.

"No" he whispered.

**From the depths of the ocean, Kronos laughed so loudly the whole ship trembled.**

**"No!" The girl screamed as the sarcophagus engulfed her in a blast of a golden light.**

"What was in the coffin?" Apollo asked.

"I can't tell you that or it would be bad" Percy said.

"Now I know" Travis said and looked down.

Those from Hermes cabin, except Luke, looked down.

"So do I" Chris said.

**"Ah!" I sat bolt upright in my hammock.**

**Annabeth was shaking me. "Percy, you were having a nightmare. You need to get up."**

**"Wh-what is it?" I rubbed my eyes. "What's wrong?"**

**"Land," she said grimly. "We're approaching the island of the Sirens."**

"Uh-oh" Frank said.

**I could barely make out the island ahead of us-just a dark spot in the mist.**

**"I want you to do me a favor," Annabeth said. "The Sirens … we'll be in range of their singing soon."**

**I remembered stories about the Sirens. They sang so sweetly their voices enchanted sailors and lured them to their death.**

**"No problem," I assured her. "We can just stop up our ears. There's a big tub of candle wax below deck-"**

**"I want to hear them."**

Everyone stared at Annabeth like she was crazy.

"Why?"

"They tell you what you desire." Annabeth said.

"So you'll see Percy?" Thalia asked.

"Not at this time! But you'll apparently see Nico!" Annabeth joked.

Thalia blushed and didn't argue back.

**I blinked. "Why?"**

**"They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. If you survive … you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"**

"Never" Athena said, "it is dangerous thought Annabeth."

"I know mom," Annabeth replied.

**Coming from most people, this would've made no sense. But Annabeth being who she was-well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, I guessed the Sirens would appeal to her, too.**

**She told me her plan. Reluctantly, I helped her get ready.**

**As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, I ordered one of the ropes to wrap around Annabeth's waist, tying her to the foremast.**

**"Don't untie me," she said, "no matter what happens or how much I plead. I'll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself."**

**"Are you trying to tempt me?"**

"Only Percy" Nico said shaking his head.

Athena looked at the Son of the Sea god.

"I was joking!" Percy defended.

**"Ha-ha."**

**I promised I'd keep her secure. Then I took two large wads of candle wax, kneaded them into earplugs, and stuffed my ears.**

**Annabeth nodded sarcastically, letting me know the earplugs were a real fashion statement. I made a face at her and turned to the pilot's wheel.**

"You looked good standing at the captain's wheel so tall and proud," Annabeth said and Percy chuckled and kissed her.

"He looks like that when he leads us into battle" Katie said.

Every demigod who has been led into battle by the Son of Poseidon nodded.

**The silence was eerie. I couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in my head. As we approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. I willed the Queen Anne's Revenge to skirt around them. If we sailed any closer, those rocks would shred our hull like blender blades.**

**I glanced back. At first, Annabeth seemed totally normal. Then she got a puzzled look on her face. Her eyes widened.**

**She strained against the ropes. She called my name-I could tell just from reading her lips. Her expression was clear: She had to get out. This was life or death. I had to let her out of the ropes right now.**

**She seemed so miserable it was hard not to cut her free.**

"Awwwwwwwwwwww" Aphrodite, Silena and Piper cooed.

Percy blushed.

**I forced myself to look away. I urged the Queen Anne's Revenge to go faster.**

**I still couldn't see much of the island-just mist and rocks-but floating in the water were pieces of wood and fiberglass, the wreckage of old ships, even some flotation cushions from airplanes.**

"Are they really that powerful?" Leo asked.

Annabeth nodded.

**How could music cause so many lives to veer off course? I mean, sure, there were some Top Forty songs that made me want to take a fiery nosedive, but still … What could the Sirens possibly sing about?**

"The thing you want the most" Athena said.

**For one dangerous moment, I understood Annabeth's curiosity. I was tempted to take out the earplugs, just to get a taste of the song. I could feel the Sirens' voices vibrating in the timbers of the ship, pulsing along with the roar of blood in my ears.**

**Annabeth was pleading with me. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She strained against the ropes, as if they were holding her back from everything she cared about.**

"It was terrible" Annabeth said, "It was all I ever wanted."

Percy hugged her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"Now I have everything I could ever want" Annabeth said and smiled up at Percy.

Percy kissed her passionately.

**How could you be so cruel? She seemed to be asking me. I thought you were my friend.**

Annabeth looked ashamed.

**I glared at the misty island. I wanted to uncap my sword, but there was nothing to fight. How do you fight a song?**

**I tried hard not to look at Annabeth. I managed it for about five minutes.**

**That was my big mistake.**

Athena looked worried.

**When I couldn't stand it any longer, I looked back and found … a heap of cut ropes. An empty mast. Annabeth's bronze knife lay on the deck. Somehow, she'd managed to wriggle it into her hand. I'd totally forgotten to disarm her.**

**I rushed to the side of the boat and saw her, paddling madly for the island, the waves carrying her straight toward the jagged rocks.**

**I screamed her name, but if she heard me, it didn't do any good. She was entranced, swimming toward her death.**

**I looked back at the pilot's wheel and yelled, "Stay!"**

There were a few laughs at that.

"Like a dog" Thalia laughed.

**Then I jumped over the side.**

**I sliced into the water and willed the currents to bend around me, making a jet stream that shot me forward.**

**I came to the surface and spotted Annabeth, but a wave caught her, sweeping her between two razor-sharp fangs of rock.**

Athena was hyperventilating now.

She was worried for her daughter.

**I had no choice. I plunged after her.**

**I dove under the wrecked hull of a yacht, wove through a collection of floating metal balls on chains that I realized afterward were mines.**

"Great" Poseidon said sarcastically.

**I had to use all my power over water to avoid getting smashed against the rocks or tangled in the nets of barbed wire strung just below the surface.**

**I jetted between the two rock fangs and found myself in a half-moon-shaped bay. The water was choked with more rocks and ship wreckage and floating mines. The beach was black volcanic sand.**

**I looked around desperately for Annabeth.**

**There she was.**

**Luckily or unluckily, she was a strong swimmer.**

"Both" Hazel said.

**She'd made it past the mines and the rocks. She was almost to the black beach.**

**Then the mist cleared and I saw them-the Sirens.**

**Imagine a flock of vultures the size of people-with dirty black plumage, gray talons, and wrinkled pink necks. Now imagine human heads on top of those necks, but the human heads keep changing.**

**I couldn't hear them, but I could see they were singing. As their mouths moved, their faces morphed into people I knew-my mom, Poseidon, Grover, Tyson, Chiron. All the people I most wanted to see.**

"You didn't see Annie!" Nico said.

"She was in front of me!" Percy argued.

"What did I say would happen if you called me Annie, di Angelo?" Annabeth threatened.

Nico put his hand to his mouth with terror written all over his face.

**They smiled reassuringly, inviting me forward. But no matter what shape they took, their mouths were greasy and caked with the remnants of old meals. Like vultures, they'd been eating with their faces, and it didn't look like they'd been feasting on Monster Donuts.**

**Annabeth swam toward them.**

**I knew I couldn't let her get out of the water. The sea was my only advantage. It had always protected me one way or another. I propelled myself forward and grabbed her ankle.**

**The moment I touched her, a shock went through my body, and I saw the Sirens the way Annabeth must've been seeing them.**

**Three people sat on a picnic blanket in Central Park. A feast was spread out before them. I recognized Annabeth's dad from photos she'd shown me-an athletic-looking, sandy-haired guy in his forties. He was holding hands with a beautiful woman who looked a lot like Annabeth. She was dressed casually-in blue jeans and a denim shirt and hiking boots-but something about the woman radiated power. I knew that I was looking at the goddess Athena. Next to them sat a young man … Luke.**

Athena had tears in her eyes.

"Oh Annabeth…" she said.

Annabeth was blushing.

**The whole scene glowed in a warm, buttery light. The three of them were talking and laughing, and when they saw Annabeth, their faces lit up with delight. Annabeth's mom and dad held out their arms invitingly. Luke grinned and gestured for Annabeth to sit next to him-as if he'd never betrayed her, as if he were still her friend.**

Luke looked down.

"Oh my gods" Annabeth said embarrassed.

**Behind the trees of Central Park, a city skyline rose. I caught my breath, because it was Manhattan, but not Manhattan. It had been totally rebuilt from dazzling white marble, bigger and grander than ever-with golden windows and rooftop gardens. It was better than New York. Better than Mount Olympus.**

**I knew immediately that Annabeth had designed it all. She was the architect for a whole new world. She had reunited her parents. She had saved Luke. She had done everything she'd ever wanted.**

Annabeth and Athena had tears in their eyes.

Athena got up and hugged Annabeth.

**I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, all I saw were the Sirens-ragged vultures with human faces, ready to feed on another victim.**

**I pulled Annabeth back into the surf. I couldn't hear her, but I could tell she was screaming. She kicked me in the face, but I held on.**

"Ow" everyone said.

**I willed the currents to carry us out into the bay. Annabeth pummeled and kicked me, making it hard to concentrate. She thrashed so much we almost collided with a floating mine. I didn't know what to do. I'd never get back to the ship alive if she kept fighting.**

**We went under and Annabeth stopped struggling. Her expression became confused. Then our heads broke the surface and she started to fight again.**

**The water! Sound didn't travel well underwater. If I could submerge her long enough, I could break the spell of the music. Of course, Annabeth wouldn't be able to breathe, but at the moment, that seemed like a minor problem.**

"Minor? I need to breathe!" Annabeth said.

"I know" Percy said.

**I grabbed her around the waist and ordered the waves to push us down.**

**We shot into the depths-ten feet, twenty feet. I knew I had to be careful because I could withstand a lot more pressure than Annabeth. She fought and struggled for breath as bubbles rose around us.**

**Bubbles.**

"BUBBLES!" Hermes, the Stolls, Apollo and Leo shouted.

Everyone laughed.

**I was desperate. I had to keep Annabeth alive. I imagined all the bubbles in the sea-always churning, rising. I imagined them coming together, being pulled toward me.**

**The sea obeyed. There was a flurry of white, a tickling sensation all around me, and when my vision cleared, Annabeth and I had a huge bubble of air around us. Only our legs stuck into the water.**

"Our first kiss was like that" Annabeth smiled and kissed Percy.

**She gasped and coughed. Her whole body shuddered, but when she looked at me, I knew the spell had been broken.**

**She started to sob-I mean horrible, heartbroken sobbing. She put her head on my shoulder and I held her.**

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" all the girls cooed except for those few that weren't moved by this kind of stuff, like Clarisse and Thalia.

Annabeth blushed like crazy.

**Fish gathered to look at us-a school of barracudas, some curious marlins.**

**Scram! I told them.**

"Be nice!" Apollo scolded.

**They swam off, but I could tell they went reluctantly. I swear I understood their intentions. They were about to start rumors flying around the sea about the son of Poseidon and some girl at the bottom of Siren Bay.**

"Good luck with that one" Connor said.

**"I'll get us back to the ship," I told her. "It's okay. Just hang on."**

**Annabeth nodded to let me know she was better now, then she murmured something I couldn't hear because of the wax in my ears.**

"I said thank you," Annabeth said.

"You're welcome beautiful," Percy said.

Annabeth kissed Percy.

**I made the current steer our weird little air submarine through the rocks and barbed wire and back toward the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was maintaining a slow and steady course away from the island.**

**We stayed underwater, following the ship, until I judged we had moved out of earshot of the Sirens. Then I surfaced and our air bubble popped.**

**I ordered a rope ladder to drop over the side of the ship, and we climbed aboard.**

**I kept my earplugs in, just to be sure.**

Athena and Poseidon nodded in approval.

**We sailed until the island was completely out of sight. Annabeth sat huddled in a blanket on the forward deck. Finally she looked up, dazed and sad, and mouthed, safe.**

**I took out the earplugs. No singing. The afternoon was quiet except for the sound of the waves against the hull. The fog had burned away to a blue sky, as if the island of the Sirens had never existed.**

**"You okay?" I asked. The moment I said it, I realized how lame that sounded. Of course she wasn't okay.**

**"I didn't realize," she murmured.**

**"What?"**

**Her eyes were the same color as the mist over the Sirens' island. "How powerful the temptation would be."**

Athena nodded.

**I didn't want to admit that I'd seen what the Sirens had promised her. I felt like a trespasser. But I figured I owed it to Annabeth.**

**"I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan," I told her. "And Luke and your parents."**

**She blushed. "You saw that?"**

"I was embarrassed," Annabeth admitted.

**"What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch … that really got to you, huh?"**

**She pulled her blanket around her. "My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."**

**I blinked. "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"**

Everyone laughed.

"Wow Percy" Thalia shook her head.

**She rolled her eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse."**

**"What could be worse than hummus?"**

**"Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else … even the gods."**

**"You feel that way?"**

**She looked down. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."**

"That'll get his attention" Nico said.

**"I'm listening."**

Everyone laughed at Percy's comment.

**"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did-that's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?"**

**"Um … no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare."**

"Yes, yes it would" the demigods said.

**"Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw."**

**"What is?"**

"Personal loyalty" Percy said.

**"I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it … well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."**

**I thought about that. It didn't exactly cheer me up.**

**I also noticed Annabeth hadn't said much about the personal things she would change-like getting her parents back together, or saving Luke. I understood. I didn't want to admit how many times I'd dreamed of getting my own parents back together.**

Sally and Poseidon smiled at each other.

**I pictured my mom, alone in our little apartment on the Upper East Side. I tried to remember the smell of her blue waffles in the kitchen. It seemed so far away.**

**"So was it worth it?" I asked Annabeth. "Do you feel … wiser?"**

**She gazed into the distance. "I'm not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don't stop Luke …"**

**She didn't need to finish. If Luke's way of thinking could even tempt Annabeth, there was no telling how many other half-bloods might join him.**

**I thought about my dream of the girl and the golden sarcophagus. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I got the feeling I was missing something. Something terrible that Kronos was planning. What had the girl seen when she opened that coffin lid?**

**Suddenly Annabeth's eyes widened. "Percy."**

**I turned.**

**Up ahead was another blotch of land-a saddle-shaped island with forested hills and white beaches and green meadows-just like I'd seen in my dreams.**

**My nautical senses confirmed it. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west.**

**We had reached the home of the Cyclops.**

"Great" Poseidon said.

"That's it" Hera said.

"I'm next!" Connor said and the book was passed to him.

* * *

**im gonna post the results for my poll on the next chapter! thank you for reading! **

**tell me waht you think of this idea...**

**Im gonna choose a few characters and they're all gonna have something up with them, one's gonna be a cutter, anorexic, balemic, and an abused character that becomes suicidal. It's gonna show the stories of teens with these problems (named after PJO charcters) and how they go through them. I'm writing it to show anyone going through these problems that things will get better if you try! and it'll show how much people really care! i want to use characters we know to say everyone goes thorugh these kind of things! even our fave people!**

**NO DEMIGODS! the characters are not demigods!**

**tell me if you think i should do it! im starting another story though too! and i hope it turns out okay!**

**so please review and i love you all!**

**~PrincessOfWisdom-AnnabethChase~**


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